Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to [email protected]
Susan Lara’s Jan. 6 letter in the BDN tells a tale of her own family’s history of generational resilience and success, through hard work and adaptations after immigrating to America. My congratulations. I’m glad they’re here. My family story is similar.
Ms. Lara predicts that our next president will return America to a better time. I disagree with her references to “back when,” a time when she asserts everything was normal and better. I think she has succumbed to cherry picking.
“Back then” was a time when women were not allowed to own credit cards. “Back then” was a time when Black Americans could not own homes in red-lined neighborhoods. “Back then,” Jewish and Catholic people were viewed with suspicion and excluded from clubs and public office. “Back then,” cities across America chose to fill their public swimming pools with dirt rather than share them with their black neighbors.
So I’m just wondering which “back when” we are pining for after all. We can celebrate America’s rich history, but let’s not cherry pick. Our country can improve only when we can acknowledge our flaws.
Craig Kesselheim
Southwest Harbor
