Don’t write off 75 million
Stop complaining
Regarding “House building its case to try Trump,” (A4, Jan. 16): It is clear the Democrats see no value in approaching Donald Trump voters in any fashion. And with Trump’s recent actions, that approach is somewhat understandable. But writing off 75 million voters as worthless is a big mistake. In India, with 900 million eligible voters, you could get away with that. But in the United States, 74 million is a sizable portion of the population. Democrats will never be able to placate all of them. But they had better start thinking how to move the country from 50-50 to at least 60-40 or else the current condition will continue indefinitely. Stop complaining about how despicable the Republicans are and start doing something about making them Democratic voters.
Joe Williams, League City
Hope and peace
Regarding “Dream deferred: King’s hopes for our country go unfulfilled,” (A1, Jan. 18): It was a joy to see Joy Sewing’s name on this excellent piece. We have enjoyed many of her articles and only recently learned that she is not only an excellent writer but an excellent Black writer and the descendant of a Texas leader. Her writing lifts us up, her success lifts us up and the Houston Chronicle’s expansion of its staff to include so many top-notch writers of color lifts up the whole community. We are, quite incidentally, a white couple aged 87, who still totally believe that Martin Luther King’s dream coming true is just a matter of time. We join all others in impatience for the day.
Britt and Mary Alice Davis, Katy
Thanks for the well-written and timely article about Martin Luther King Jr.’s deferred dream.
Sadly, I don’t see any meaningful progress towards that dream, much less fulfillment, over 50 years after King’s assassination. Voter suppression is alive and well, discrimination is rampant, health and income for Blacks lag far behind the U.S. average, and King’s lesser known parts of his speech about militarism, poverty and righting past and present wrongs is not even on most people’s radar screens. And I don’t even want to talk about systemic racism from the very top permeating our entire society.
So rather than battling all these injustices, it’s so much easier to placate the concerns of our Black citizens by declaring February (the shortest month) Black History Month, building a monument or two, and creating a King holiday that most businesses do not observe. “Mission Accomplished,” and moving on. It’s just another example of our habit of sweeping problems under the rug rather than confronting them.
Michael Waldau, Houston