Don’t engage white nationalist groups
Regarding “Bay Area girds for protests to come” (Aug. 15): White nationalists and other hate groups conduct rallies with the expectation that the rallies will lead to jeering from counterdemonstrators, which will inevitably lead to violence.
The hate group gets what it wants — a spectacle that will headline the news the next day. Those opposing the hate group know or should know from experience that their appearance will inevitably lead to violence.
Why don’t we just not show up when the white nationalists come to town? Denying the hate group a spectacle is the worst insult they can endure. I know this is wishful thinking on my part. The rally will be held, counterdemonstrators will appear, violence will occur and the white nationalists will get their headline news.
Ralph Stone, San Francisco
Stand up to hate speech
Your front-page story on the white supremacist rallies scheduled for the Bay Area this month brings their threat to public attention. These people are not about free speech; they are about violence against people of color, women, LGBT and Jewish people.
It’s the responsibility of our elected officials and the media to deny them a platform for their hate. Ignoring them won’t work any better than it did in Germany in 1933. It’s the responsibility of all of us to stand up to them if they do come, to outnumber them and let the world know that they will not go unopposed. Mickey Ellinger, Oakland
Blue versus red states
With the prospect of more violence as white nationalists, neo-Nazis and KKK members plan more marches, one might ask this awful question: Is our nation on the brink of a second civil war? Imagine law and order needing to be enforced by our attorney general, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions (named after a Confederate general), while our president is receiving “strategic advice” from alt-right favorite Steve Bannon.
It’s frightening to consider that such a war would not pit North against South, but rather blue against red (states). Belinda Davis, San Francisco
Pence’s hypocrisy
Regarding “Pence says U.S. won’t stand by as Venezuela ‘crumbles’ ” (Aug. 15): It’s heartwarming to see Vice President Mike Pence show compassion for the Venezuelan refugees in Columbia on his recent South American visit. He reportedly heard “heartbreaking” stories of their struggle for food.
If only the administration would show the same compassion for the millions of undocumented economic immigrants in this country. Perhaps Pence would like to admit into the United States all the Venezuelans fleeing their homeland. Perhaps the administration could put them to work building the wall along our border with Mexico. What hypocrisy!
Stephen Gelman, Moraga
No moral leadership
Regarding “Trump’s resounding silence” (Editorial, Aug. 15): Why would we expect this particular president to “censure racism, extremism or violence”? President Trump began his real estate career being involved in lawsuits claiming he would not rent properties to African Americans. He then gained a large following of white nationalists by pursuing a five-year “birther conspiracy” questioning where former President Barack Obama was born. And most recently, he told law enforcement officers that it would be OK to rough up criminal suspects. Trump is reckless, defiant and completely lacks the ability to provide moral leadership as our nation’s president.
Quentin Figueroa, Daly City
Take away the power
As the rhetoric between North Korea and President Trump grows more extreme, Congress should preemptively state that Trump does not have the consent of Congress to engage, regarding North Korea, in hostilities nor to enter into situations where imminent involvement in hostilities is clearly indicated by the circumstances.
This would follow the precedent of the War Powers Resolution. Given the observed character and pronouncements of the two national leaders, this congressional action is critical and its need immediate.
James Hepburn Sutton, Stinson Beach
The war on racism
It seems to me our society has been conditioned to the myth of white superiority. This can be witnessed by the controversy surrounding the film “Detroit,” which tells the true story of police brutality toward some nonwhite people in the Motor City that culminated in rioting and looting.
There is mention of the nonwhite migration from the South to the assembly lines of Detroit looking for a better life and the ensuing racial tensions that developed when “those people” were moving into “our” neighborhoods.
There are some who view the film as a lopsided depiction of the event and refuse to accept the fact that racism in this country is very real. Due to the fact that we are living in a society where people are allowed to treat people badly and in an ugly manner because they are different, perhaps a war on racism is in order ... again.
Dennis Kostecki, Sausalito