You say, “reviving history a political ploy.” I say, those that are ignorant of history are doomed to relive it. Or worse, they are trying to reinvent it.

Cut through the neo-con babble about Trump haters, brainwashed liberal disciples following like myopic lemmings and the liberal press, and we get to the point of your letter. That being, “if the city of Salisbury swept under the rug a double murder of two white people — having been killed by black citizens — would it be fair for white citizens to blame every African-American in the city? … preposterous,” you say. I say false equivalency.

For 200 years, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, whites were not subject to slavery. And in modern times, whites were not subject to Jim Crow laws. Both of which were written and vehemently enforced by predominantly white, ethnocentric, Southern Christian men.

This has nothing to do with approval ratings, poll numbers or liberal media. This is about a community coming to grips with its (ugly) past. Its history. The way it was presented and received is unfortunate (and I don’t have an answer for that). But I can say that making false equivalencies and not acknowledging our racist history says a lot about the racial insensitivity and ignorance in our community.

— Michael Young

Salisbury