Columnist's rose-colored glasses tint reality of racism in America: Letters

Columnist's rose-colored glasses tint reality of racism in America

Aug. 31 — To the Editor:

I was disappointed to read D. Allan Kerr’s most recent opinion piece. Not only by his words, or the piece’s glaring title, which minimizes the experience of countless Black Americans (including some of Mr. Kerr’s own neighbors), but also by the publisher’s decision to post the piece with no counterpoint or editorial notations.

While I truly appreciate Mr. Kerr’s optimism and enthusiasm for history, it is irresponsible to let his words stand without scrutiny of facts. Kerr holds up the existence of a Black president and other office holders to support his assertion that America has eradicated the systemic racism on which it was founded. Yet he ignores the well-documented experiences of regular (non office holding) Black Americans. The conservative commentator Jason Riley wrote in a 2017 opinion piece  “The proliferation of black politicians in recent decades — which now includes a twice-elected black president — has done little to narrow racial gaps in employment, income, homeownership, academic achievement and other areas.”

The fact is that most indicators of well-being in this country continue to illustrate glaring racial inequities in its basic institutions — from banking, to policing, to education, to healthcare. The data are easily accessed on government websites for anyone caring to critically examine whether institutional racism has indeed gone the way of explicitly racist segregation laws as Kerr opines. A recent post by the U.S. Department of Treasury, one of the very oldest U.S. institutions, highlights  “racial disparities in wealth, education, employment, housing, mobility, health, rates of incarceration, and more... health disparities, for example, also begin early in life and persist over the lifespan. Black and Hispanic Americans face higher rates of child abuse, lead exposure, obesity in childhood, and chronic illness in adulthood than white Americans. These groups often experience restricted access to quality health care…” Marked disparities like these are beyond the scope of individual racist bankers, racist police, teachers, employers, or racist healthcare workers. Disparities like these result from systems that do not equally serve their customers. (They were never designed to.)

Like Mr. Kerr, I celebrate the achievements of (primarily Black) activists throughout history who risked their lives to dismantle systemic racism. But to be so cavalier as to declare that job finished, or simply good enough because "look how far we've come" does not serve anyone except those happy with the status quo. I would go so far as to label it dangerous, giving support to the argument that work to identify and address systemic racial disparities is no longer needed when Black Americans, and the data, tell us it still is. Until most Black Americans have access to the same basic opportunities as most whites, systemic equity remains a lovely ideal that is not yet realized. When we plainly acknowledge that without equivocation we create opportunities to fix an insidious problem that holds us all back, together. I hope that Mr. Kerr will start using his voice and platform to support that effort instead of to argue against the existence of the problem.

Danielle Hoffman

Kittery, Maine

Portsmouth's resident activists deserve our thanks and praise

Sept. 4 — To the Editor:

Note: The writer submitted as a letter to the editor the following statement addressed to the Portsmouth City Council in the public comment session at the City Council meeting of Aug. 28, 2023.

Good evening, my name is Lenore Weiss Bronson and I live at 828 Woodbury Avenue, Portsmouth.

I appreciate this opportunity to exercise my first amendment right to express my opinion in public.

It is disheartening to see that a few so-called developers, hosts of tourists, and out-of-state tax-free shoppers are being catered to as if they held far greater value than Portsmouth residents.

Those who live here are being bypassed by city hall in so many ways and on so many levels that it’s impossible to follow the inconsistent process now used to govern us.

So who, if anyone, is advocating for our residents?

I believe we can look to those Portsmouthites who are caring and stalwart enough to approach the city at meetings and hearings such as this.

Some of them have lived here and been civilly engaged longer than many of our officials.They painstakingly do their homework and research on city and state ordinances and then speak intelligently to issues that directly impact our daily lives.

They express legitimate concerns, possess admirable expertise, and offer well-founded, fair, legally solid solutions for implementing at the grassroots level.

These are the true experts and representatives of our Portsmouth community.

They represent many residents of Portsmouth, including those you rarely or never hear from, who may post opinions on social media but stay at home during city proceedings, They may have learned that getting involved can prove futile and even politically hazardous.

Yet the resident advocates who faithfully contribute in person at city hall have often been dismissed by officials and so-called developers as bothersome naysayers who get in the way of many under-the-radar plans.

As a longtime Portsmouth resident, I applaud their courageous efforts to spark awareness and to cultivate our increasingly fragile residential quality of life.

Please listen to them, respect and respond to what they offer you. Keep in mind that they are acting on behalf of thousands of their Portsmouth peers — currently your constituency.

If this means you now have to grant our residents priority over the wants of so-called developers, over tourists and out-of-state shoppers, so be it. I think we could all be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

Lenore Weiss Bronson

Portsmouth

The contradictions of the so-called 'pro-life' agenda

Sept. 4 — To the Editor:

Republican George W. Bush was a so-called “pro-life” president with a mixed legacy regarding his pro-life positions.  On the negative side of the ledger, he is remembered for his deadly war of choice in Iraq, his support of torture, and his economic polices that harmed the poor. However, to his credit, he was also responsible for one of the most truly pro-life policies in recent history.

As the HIV/AIDS pandemic spread uncontrollably throughout the world, especially in Africa, in 2003 President George W. Bush signed the 5-year, $15 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).  The program sent HIV treatment drugs and medical personnel to 15 countries, 12 in Africa.  As reported in the New York Times, “over the next 20 years, PEPFAR became one of the most significant global health programs in modern history.”  “It saved 25 million lives and, by preventing mother -to-child transmission, allowed 5.5 million babies to be born H.I.V. free.”  Now that is really a pro-fife program and policy.

Unfortunately, today’s radical so-called “pro-life” Republicans in the House of Representatives have placed the future of this program in jeopardy. They claim that the program somehow supports abortion although there is no evidence that ever has. This is just another example of so many other positions of the so-called “pro-life” movement, that are contradictory to actually saving lives. The “pro-life” agenda opposes expanded health care, supports capital punishment, opposes any sane gun safety laws, opposes family planning programs that prevent unintended pregnancies and abortion, opposes public health measures to control deadly diseases and opposes environmental protection/climate change measures.

If this is what it means to be “pro-life” we have a serious misunderstanding of what it means to really save lives.

Rich DiPentima, RN, MPH

Portsmouth

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Columnist's rose-colored glasses tint racist realities in US: Letters