No more prayers. We owe the families of the slain Dallas officers action

To the editor: My heart goes out to the families of those slain police officers, but not my prayers. (“Obama mourns slain Dallas officers: They ‘shared a commitment to something larger than themselves,’” July 12)

Our prayers should instead be a promise to ourselves and to the families of the slain Dallas police officers that no more cops need to die and that this is in our hands, not God’s. We should not rest or have peace in our hearts until we fulfill our promise to the families that lost those brave officers.

Our prayer should be too for the muting of those who hope to divide us and for us to know the difference between love and hate. Until then, God is watching.

Dennis Grossman , Woodland Hills

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To the editor: Recently I listened to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” several times while sitting in my car. I don’t have a general solution to the agonizing racial problems facing the United States, but I do have a personal one. I recommend that anyone who is concerned about race relations and acts of brutality committed both toward and by police take a short break, sit down, listen to this song, which topped the charts in 1971, and think.

Have we made any progress in the last 45 years since Gaye’s song first played on radio stations across America? Certainly we have elected and reelected a black president, one who has often spoken frankly about race relations in this country. But we need to do more.

Take a moment, listen to this song, and ask yourself this: What’s going on? What can I personally do, today, tomorrow and everyday from now on, to help replace acts of hate with acts of love?

Crista Worthy, Hidden Springs, Idaho

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