Immigrants still treated as if they don’t belong
As a Black Jamaican woman who immigrated to the United States when I was 8 years old, I have struggled with the fact that I was treated as if I were an alien from a different planet. Now that I have been in this country for 42 years, I have seen the same thing happen to other immigrants.
Even with all the information available to us about various cultures, we still continue to treat certain immigrants as aliens from a different planet. Our humanity is challenged daily. We start to look at our neighbors as enemies and feel that we are alone.
I ask that we look at the new immigrants to this country as the Native Americans looked at the pilgrims. I asked that we continue to uphold the value that differences makes us stronger and fear breeds destruction.
SASHA NEMBHARD, LITHONIA
Parties pander to fringes, but voters are in the middle
Though Democrats and others scramble to understand and explain why they were hit by the “red wave,” the reasons are right in front of them. Polls show that about 75% of the population believes that the country is moving in the wrong direction. This number is usually high, regardless of the party in power, but it was exceptionally high this year. It reflects a disgruntled population in which many people are unhappy with their lives and blame their situation on “the system,” i.e., the government.
By promising simple solutions to their complaints, President-elect Donald Trump built a coalition of groups motivated by such factors as racism, the Democrats’ foreign policy, the cost of living (which is largely beyond the control of the administration in office), etc.
Both parties pander to the fringes of the political spectrum. Most voters are in the middle of the political spectrum and want evolutionary, not revolutionary, change through bipartisan commonsense solutions to the United States’ major problems. They also want to stop politicians (who benefit from the current system) from being able to make a career in politics.
RON KURTZ, ALPHARETTA
