A couple of rebuttals [Village News, Letters, 5/20/21]

The rebuttal to my “Biden’s job plans” letter was going great until the last sentence, which reads: “What many people seem to miss is that money not spent on taxes is in fact going into the economy….” That is absolutely not a fact. One way or another, the wealthy elite take about 80% of America’s revenue. A substantial percentage of that money goes into the banks (foreign and domestic), overseas tax havens, and foreign investments of the wealthy elite, never to be seen here again.

Critical Race Theory and Systemic Racism: Overt racism had long been part of America’s history, and today there are still traces of overt racism and systemic racism. We are not responsible for the behavior of our parents or other forebears, nor can we use their behavior as our standard in this regard. But we can and should learn by examining their behaviors. I spent the first years of my life, from 1932 to 1960, in Texas. I saw racial segregation in full force: segregated schools; separate drinking fountains, public rest rooms, and restaurants; and sundown cities. In case you’re not familiar with the term, a sundown city is one where it’s not safe for a person of color to be out after dark.

After I moved to California, I had something to compare my experience with. Had I seen racism in Texas? Absolutely, overt and systemic, and painted with a very broad brush. Do I see systemic racism here? Yes. I don’t need CRT to tell me that: I see it in the news nearly every day. I would like to see the data from CRT discussed in schools, in context and age appropriate. I see it in the context of our Constitutional amendments and the progress they show we have made. It would be a waste, and misleading, not to use the stumbles we and our forebears have made as valuable learning experiences.

John H. Terrell