Letters: Obama on race in America

Re “A president reflects on race,” July 20

Speaking about the George Zimmerman verdict, President Obama correctly stated that “the African American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away.”

Scientists agree that there is no biological basis for the word “race.” Rather, the concept has been used historically to justify discrimination against people with dark skin.

This history in America started in the mid-1600s in Virginia, when black indentured servants were forced to work for life while whites were freed after their term of service. The U.S. Constitution contained a fugitive slave clause and gave slave states House representation for their slave populations. We fought the Civil War over slavery, but the postwar Reconstruction amendments were practically ignored. Despite the 1960s civil rights laws, racial profiling and voter suppression still exist, and prisons are overflowing with black inmates.

American attitudes on race must change.

Robert W. Holdenvenzon

San Diego

Instead of furthering his dubious legacy of racial divisiveness, Obama would have done better to address the real scourge this nation faces: that of gun violence.

Rather than singling out one tragic altercation between an African American and a Latino male, he could have addressed the unpublicized and unpunished murders of young black males taking place almost every day in his adopted city, Chicago.

This case had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the right of every Tom, Dick and Harry in this country to possess a firearm.

Obama totally missed the point.

Pauline Regev

Santa Monica

Obama is way off base in declaring that Trayvon Martin could have been him.

First, the president grew up in Hawaii, a state known for its multicultural makeup. Hawaii is a true mix of many races and ethnicities that get along well.

Second, Obama’s mother was white. For part of his life, he was raised by his white grandmother.

Finally, the president attended a prestigious high school in Honolulu, then continued on to Occidental College, Columbia University and finally Harvard Law School. Martin was struggling through public high school.

The lives of Martin and a young Obama do not come close to comparison.

Cecelia Kennelly-Waeschle

Cliff Waeschle

Beverly Hills

My husband and I had one biological (white) daughter and two biracial infants adopted in the early 1970s. People stared at us and frequently asked questions, but there was never a negative comment.

The most painful experience came on a quiet afternoon when my son was 3 years old. There was a sudden disruption at the end of our cul-de-sac, where my three kids and a few neighborhood children were playing in the street.

I stepped outside to see a boy in the street shouting “nigger lovers” at my children. When he saw me coming, he turned and ran. My 7-year-old daughter armed herself with a toy bat and was ready to chase him. I calmed everyone down as neighbors opened their front doors and hurried outside.

A few weeks later the boy once again approached some children playing in front of our house, asking if he could join them. The kids tossed the ball to him, welcoming him to the game.

Children are forgiving. Trayvon Martin was a kid too.

Donna Myrow

Palm Springs

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