I have to respond to George Jones’ letter (Sept. 18) in which he wrote that Barack Obama could never have been elected president in the 1940s, ’50s or ’60s. Jones was absolutely right, but for the wrong reason.
People weren’t smarter back then; I lived then, too. They were much more prejudiced, and non-white people were much more discriminated against. They were second-class citizens in the parts of the United States where Jim Crow laws kept them in their “place” and disenfranchised.
They were second-class citizens as well where Jim Crow wasn’t the law but the culture.
Thank God, those days are over; but the prejudice seems to linger. I am hopeful that will soon be gone, too.
I have to congratulate the Sun Journal on featuring columnist Leonard Pitts, and on the photography that often includes non-white children.
Keep up the good work.
Vickie Rogers, Otisfield
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