Dear Editor,
I was disheartened to read the July 29, 2020 letter from G. Pat Irving which was written in response to a letter from J. and C. Bancroft on July 22, 2020 about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Mr./Ms. Irving says, “All Lives Matter” when responding to the letter about the Black Lives Matter movement. The United States of America has never fully embraced the sanctity of Black lives. The writer cannot honestly believe that our country has afforded people of color a level playing field at any point in our nation’s history. The Black Lives Matter movement was begun in response to the discrimination against Black lives in our country; as a white citizen, I have never had to face such discrimination in my native Orange County or elsewhere in the USA.
Next, I suspect this will fall on deaf ears, but much of the destruction and mayhem alluded to by the writer has come from opportunists seeking to sow divisions among us (including many ultra-right-wing, conservative groups and individuals we are now learning). I know that the new boogeyman is “Antifa!”, but the facts don’t support those fears. I have marched in Southern California (masked up) without witnessing one incident of violence or destruction. The writer’s “law-abiding” comment illustrates the attitude held by the writer; furthermore, it illustrates the quiet racism and hypocrisy so many people continue to be fed from the same, tired sources. There was nothing “law-abiding” about the men armed with assault weapons who stormed the state capitol in Michigan. Likewise, the 3 white men arrested for making explosives in Las Vegas so they could “reopen” America and later disrupt BLM marchers were anything but “law-abiding”. Yet Mr./Ms. Irving is silent about these and similar actions by white Americans who use force. These actions, and so many others over our 400+ year history like them, are meant to threaten and intimidate fellow Americans citizens, not to strive for our nation’s stated ideals of freedom, justice, equality for all of her citizens.
The time is well past for the United States of America to come to grip with the racist actions of the past and the present so that we may finally move toward a future in which all Americans can proudly, fully and equally participate.
Denise Miller
Rossmoor