MAGA hats are not racist

Re “MAGA hats, blackface share a certain unfortunate DNA,” column, Feb. 5

Robin Abcarian writes, “Wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat is not necessarily an overt expression of racism.” But later, she states that the implicit political message is, “The past was better because it was whiter.”

She then hopes the practice of wearing a MAGA hat has the same fate as flying the Confederate flag.

Why can’t the MAGA hat simply be a symbol of pride in this country — the country that used to be tolerant, loving and accepting of all viewpoints?

Abcarian believes that President Trump’s views about Mexicans, Muslims and border walls are racist. The president is merely trying to protect the country from some illegal immigrants who wish to harm it. Connie Veldkamp

Laguna Niguel

I consider myself a patriot. I stand up for the national anthem with my hand on my heart, singing

the words. I feel extremely fortunate to have been born in this country.

From the New Deal to Brown vs. Board of Education, from the the Civil Rights Act to the election of an African American as president, our country improves with age.

As those red hats continue to pop up in news stories, I would like someone to explain to me the second “A” in MAGA. Please give me a date when America was greater than it is today — or at least it was on Jan. 19, 2017. Larry Harmell

Granada Hills

Wearing a MAGA hat is not evidence of racism. It is evidence of respect and appreciation of the remarkable improvements to this country that have resulted from the policies of President Trump.

For the record, I like thousands of other young Jewish men and women marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s. We did so to improve race relations in the United States. Many of these same young people faced off with Bull Connor in Alabama. We risked life and limb to achieve equality.

Abcarian has not earned the right to imply that someone like me — a supporter of Trump who also marched with King — is a racist. Robert M. Rosenthal

Burbank

It is a sad time when a slogan like “Make America Great Again” sparks such wide division in our country. Sybil MacDonald

Los Angeles