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To the Editor:

I am an aging white male, born and raised in the deep south. My parents were very poor, but honorable, law-abiding, decent human beings, who ingrained in me that I should never treat any human being badly or unjustly, no matter what color their skin was. I have lived by those teachings my entire life and have been able to overcome many childhood obstacles. I have lived in North Carolina for the past 51 years, the last seven in Beaufort County. My father served in the Navy in WW I and II, and I served a year in Vietnam.

This letter to the editor has not been researched for historical accuracy. But I continue to wonder how this country has failed to solve the historic problems of racism and sexism over the past 400 years? What “legal” tests do black, brown and female human beings have to meet to be treated “equally?”

How can the criminal justice systems, the legal systems, the law enforcement systems, the judiciary systems, the political systems, the financial systems, the educational systems and the health care systems deal with racism and sexism so badly, for so long? In these areas, the snails would win every race!

What “good” has been accomplished by “protest,” peaceful or violent?

What should black, brown and female humans do, after 400 years, when the systems fail them, over and over and over and over?

What should black and brown males, and all females, do when they have never been treated equally?

How do obviously guilty law enforcement personnel get away with crimes over and over and over and over?

Why are white males more “equal” than people of color or females? Does wealth matter?

Have T-shirts or celebrities solved the problems?

Are white supremacy, KKK and George Wallace still alive and well?

Guilty segments of society always condemn violence. Many innocent, rational segments of society also condemn violence. But peaceful protest does not seem to be working, at least for the past 400 years, for people of color and women. And people of color and women continue to be denied equality.

Why has 400 years not been enough time to solve these human and social issues?

 

Tom Ross

Beaufort County