Letters to the Editor: Why multiracial leaders can better handle pandemics and climate change

To the editor: Frank Shyong’s column about the difficulty of labeling Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for vice president, correctly notes that she is a member of the fastest growing “racial group” in the world: mixed race or multiracial.

What matters to me is that she certainly experienced the discrimination visited upon all people of color, and her multicultural background has given her a better understanding of the problems we must face as a global community.

Problems like pandemics and climate change require global cooperation rather than nativism, and leaders with multicultural backgrounds are better prepared to lead in these efforts.

Margaret Hamilton, Portland, Ore.

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To the editor: Shyong asks, “What label would you use to describe the Harris household?”

American. I use the label American.

Jane Drucker, Studio City