To the Editor:
Recently, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska stated his thoughts on Facebook regarding the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va. Sasse is a center-right legislator and author of the book “The Vanishing American Adult” which I read and, for the most part, agree with. In his Facebook post, Sasse stated that “White supremacy and racism are un-American, period.” I believe this is a great statement in the ideal, but is, unfortunately, not true in reality.
In reality, white supremacy and racism have been part of America since slavery was codified in colonial Virginia during the 1660s. The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, as well as the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts of the 1960s, were all passed because of the existence in America of white supremacy and racism. If this ugliness had not existed, none of the above-mentioned laws would have been necessary.
The ugliness still exists and was an undercurrent in the last presidential election. I believe white supremacy and racism will be un-American when residential neighborhoods are fully integrated. I believe white supremacy and racism will be un-American when some parents no longer send their kids to private schools or move to North Scott or Pleasant Valley (school districts) primarily to avoid having their sons and daughters attend schools with a significant number of minority students. I’ll believe that white supremacy and racism are un-American when I no longer hear a landlord from this area say “I won’t rent to ‘em.”
We can profess lofty ideals about white supremacy and racism being un-American, but until our behavior, both personal and as a society, accurately reflect those ideals, we Americans still have some work to do.
Joe Gross,
Donahue
