Obama’s privilege Hire by color

Oprah Winfrey states that whiteness gives a person an advantage no matter what. I wonder if she believes this is true for Barack Obama.

Was it his white mother who gave him the advantages and success in his life and not hard work? Or was it the whiteness of his maternal grandparents who raised him? Do we discount all of Mr. Obama’s hard work in life and just say it was his whiteness that ensured his greatness? Or did his blackness overcome the prejudice of his whiteness and enable him to be elected to the presidency?

Maybe it was Mr. Obama’s white privilege that prevented him from doing more for Blacks in America and resulted in his mediocrity as president.

Doug Farmer

Las Vegas

In response to the Aug. 5 story, “Lehner, Reaves help break ice”: The article states the Golden Knights duo “became the first NHL players to kneel in uniform during the American and Canadian anthem Monday.” The players say that “the NHL, and hockey in general, has nowhere near the diversity of other sports.” An NHL VP is later quoted as saying,

“We know there’s much work ahead.”

Certainly there is “work to do” regarding the racial slurs that some of these players have endured and possibly in the front offices, but how do you diversify the players?

The NHL actually leads the major sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) in diversity by player’s country of origin; however the foreign countries where hockey is popular are less diverse than America, so comparing and adjusting NHL demographics to the other sports may not be realistic.

Also, in recent decades, the hiring of players in all of these major sports has become a meritocracy (get the best players possible). Are we now at the point that teams need to hire less talented players in order to be diversified?

Joe Stockman

Henderson