I would like to respectfully respond to Mr. Raymond Johns’ recent letter to the editor regarding how he feels that “whites” hate the president because he is black. In the first place Mr. Johns, you seem to forget that President Obama is bi-racial, his mother was white, his father black, so biologically he is not 100% black, he is 50% black and 50% white. Mr. Johns, all of us come from other nationalities, which you will find when you do family research. The only true American is the American Indian who was here when our ancestors came, but that is another letter for another time. Personally, Mr. Johns I am tired of being put into the “angry, white racist” category just because of the color of my skin. I don’t know what color you are and honestly I don’t care because I have no desire to put people in categories based on their skin color. You stated that we are a un-united country of blame and shame which makes me wonder if you have really studied presidential history very much because the current president is no different than some other presidents who are still getting blamed for the things they did wrong while in office. Mr. Johns it’s not a matter of blame and shame; it is a matter of truth and facts. President Obama has received no more blame than other presidents who have done a bad job of running our country, and I don’t believe I have ever heard anyone say they were a bad president because they were “white”. Part of being a leader is that if things don’t work (especially the promises made) you get blamed. If you are dreaming of a totally united country, I doubt you will ever see that, hasn’t happened in the history of our country or any other country. But, we can all try to work together if we will quit calling people racist and haters because of the color of their skin. Mr. Johns, with all due respect regarding your statement that white Americans “hate the idea” of a black leader, this sounds like a blatant racist remark to me. I believe that the color of the president’s skin has nothing to do with why people are against the president, it has everything to do with his management, knowledge, experience, ability, and some of the decisions he has made that have sent our country into a tailspin and put us into trillions of dollars in debt. You said that “no other country hates him as his own”; again, this is not a question of hate, but a question of a person who has not run the country properly. This president is a man who was elected to office by people of all nationalities including white. It is a mathematical fact that the small percentage of registered black voters in this country could not have carried the vote to elect the president. If you look at the voting demographics you will see that many blacks, whites, and other races stood with the President four years ago but are not standing with him now because he made promises that he has not kept. Remember the old adage, “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me” that is what is happening with this president, not hate because he is a “black” man, but because they don’t want another four years like the past four. Mr. Johns, on your statement about 9/11…I am assuming you are an American even though it appears that you are ashamed of America. I was with Red Cross Disaster Services when 9/11 happened and you better believe I will never forget and it has nothing to do with hating any other country, it has all to do with the fact that we were attacked on American soil by radicals and those radicals were the ones that brought destruction upon their own people when America retaliated. It is unfortunate that the innocent have to die because of the actions of radicals in any country but those radicals will be with us always, so America has to defend our people. Mr. Johns you mentioned particular hate groups, and I would like to point you back through the history of our world and remind you that there have always been radicals in every society. I hate the idea of the KKK, and I hate the idea of the radical Muslims whose goal is to kill the infidel (which by the way the word infidel includes all races other than Muslim). I detest when people such as the Black Panthers do the things they do, follow this link http://liberty.com/content/black-panthers-video-promotes-killing-white-babies and tell me this is right. Mr. Johns you shouldn’t put all “whites” into the KKK category, or no one should put all “blacks” into the Black Panther category, or for that matter put all Muslims in the same category as the Muslim radicals. It is very apparent that you don’t know history very well when you say “freedom is not just for white men” because history shows that many things have changed in this country because black men worked side-by-side with white men. President Obama made a promise in 2008; it was that he would bring Hope and Change. Guess what? Change didn’t happen and hope has been lost and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, it has to do with his ability to run America. You made another blanket statement about “whites” and the illegal drug issue. I also believe that drug running is wrong, but it is not only whites who are running drugs. Mr. Johns, check your facts, take a look at the border problems, look at arrest records, you will see “all” races involved. Mr. Johns I can agree with you that many have lost sight of God in their personal and business lives, and yes, this country could be on its way out, but I am also reminded of the promises of the Bible, which says, “If my people will humble themselves and get on their knees and pray I will save their country.” As long as people like you go around putting all white people into the category of hating all blacks then I might ask you this question… What are you doing to bring peace among all people? Of course many things were done wrong to the blacks in this country, but many things were done right. My 5th generation grandfather was a Florida judge when the slaves were freed. Freedman Agents were appointed to see that the freed slaves received land, and education. It was discovered that some agents were not doing right so the Governor for the State of Florida appointed my Grandfather Judge J.C. Gardner to oversee all of the Freedman Agents to be sure they did right. I would be glad to share that history with you, because I am proud of my heritage in helping the blacks get what they rightly deserved. I am happy to say that I can find that no one in my family history had slaves even though they were doctors, lawyers and judges and could have afforded them. It was because they knew it was wrong to own someone. Mr. Johns, I am not prejudice, never have been, and never will be. I have had many friends throughout my life who have been from other races, including black. I detest blanket statements like you have made but, I also recognize that is your freedom of speech. However, I will challenge such statements because I truly believe racism would end if all races would stop keeping it alive through untruths and bitterness.
Sharon Glass Pace, Florida
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: I am no racist