Calling out No. 45
Going forward
Regarding “Bigot-in-chief ” (Editorial, July 16): I am glad to see people finally having the conversation on race and confronting our president, as painful as this process is. We’ve been putting that conversation off for way too long.
It seems that Americans have to make a choice: Are we going to be a country in which the president can cavalierly espouse white nationalist and racist beliefs, or are we going to be a pluralistic, multicultural society which truly believes that each and every one of us is created equal?
Have we learned nothing from our history?
The great theologian Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote: “God is either the Father of all Men, or he is the father of no man.” Either we are equal or we are not equal.
If it is the latter, then a lofty phrase such as “E pluribus unum” becomes a meaningless relic. If it is truly the former, then we still have the opportunity to become “more perfect” and to throw phrases such as “go back where you came from” in the garbage, which is where they belong forever. Alan J. Hurwitz, Houston
They started it
I find it amazing when Democratic politicians, their sycophantic media and their supporters go absolutely bonkers when President Trump tells a small group of America haters, some whom are anti-Semitic, that they should go back where they came from and make it a better place — while over the past three years he’s been accused by this same trio of being racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic and other derogatory names too numerous to mention. Fritz Johnson, Houston
No place for hatred
Thank you for calling out Donald Trump for his racist remarks.
I was especially proud to be from Houston when Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC quoted from the Chronicle editorial as an example of journalists taking a stand to prevent the normalization of hatred and bigotry in this country.
I really believe that the free press is the best, and possibly the only way stop the insidious destruction of our democracy by a president with no moral compass. Kenneth Meyers, Houston
Defining moments
Regarding “House condemns Trump’s remarks” (Front page, July 17): I heard that only four House Republicans had the guts to vote to condemn the president’s racist tweets, and I feel deep sadness for our country.
Flags should be lowered tohalf-staff to reflect the tragedy that is this day.
People say we need to come together, but there are lines I cannot cross or compromise on, and the Republican Party is on the other side of that line. Alan Jackson, Houston
Outreach before crisis
Regarding “ICE arrests some locally as immigrants stay inside” (City/State, July 16): If advocating for undocumented immigrants and informing them of their rights is what immigrant rights groups do, then where have they been and what have they been doing for the last five, 10, 20 years?
It seems to me that these organizations could be more proactive, rather than reactive, in informing recent and apparently not-so-recent, undocumented immigrants of their rights and what may be required of them in certain situations.
The atmosphere would probably be less emotional and less dangerous to all parties involved if these advocacy groups were to do some regular outreach in immigrant communities so that nobody is taken by surprise when law enforcement agencies conduct their duly appointed duties. Corey Damien, Friendswood