Mailbag: Huntington Beach protesters stood against racism

How has such cruelty been unleashed in our city, in our country and around the world?

Not only are we confronted with a mindless virus whose U.S. death toll exceeds the number of Americans who died in Vietnam, we are also witness to the deadly racism that seems to have infected our legal and medical institutions.

Our economy is in crisis. Our healthcare system is in crisis. Our law enforcement agencies are perceived as untrustworthy.

Cruelty is running rampant from the ungracious and mendacious tweets of President Trump to the knee-on-the-neck death of George Floyd to the torture of homeless people on the streets of Huntington Beach.

Let us express kindness. Let us demonstrate compassion. And let us cast votes in a manner that confirms our commitment to peace and justice.

Let us boldly express our collective humanity. The time is now, the hour is late. Let’s not spend a minute indulging hate.

Ben Miles
Huntington Beach

Racial and gender inequity persist

Having lived through the Watts Riots in 1965, and the fires and destruction following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, I instinctively knew protests, rioting and looting would be quickly returning to America and Orange County. African Americans have literally and figuratively been under the boot of their white counterparts for centuries. Just as women of all colors have been under the boot of men since the beginning of time. How much longer must we wait until every American is truly free of racial or gender tyranny?

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

Rep. Rouda acts on O.C.’s behalf

Letter writer Caroline Kerr Taylor praises Rep. Harley Rouda (“Harley Rouda is responding to the crisis,” May 26)
for serving his constituents well through his support for the Heroes Act. I checked out the details of the legislation.

According to the House Appropriations Committee for local governments, this legislation would bring $2.7 billion to local governments in coastal Orange County. The praise for our congressman is well-deserved.

Christopher Hilger
Fountain Valley

A message to high school grads

What in the world can I possibly say to the class of 2020? You are going through the weirdest time and arguably the oddest graduation ever.

You will have missed the prom, the all-night party and the after-all-night party. You will miss giving everyone big hugs, writing in their yearbooks, promising to keep in touch and telling them you love them.

You will miss the look of pride and a smattering of fear on the faces of your family. You will miss waking up late the next afternoon, not believing that you actually graduated and cautiously contemplating your future.

You know how on TV they keep saying “We’re all in this together”? Well, your class really is. No one else on earth will know what it is like graduating in the time of the novel coronavirus, and that is going to hold you together like no other class.

Sandy Asper
Newport Beach

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