Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Letter to the editor:

Glimmer of hope can’t be quashed

I have tried for a long time to find answers to a couple of questions: Why do you hate me? Why do you despise me?

What do I mean when I use the word “you”?

To clarify and make it easy to understand, there are two “yous”: the Bad You and the Good You.

More than 400 years ago, the Bad You brought me to America in chains as a slave. At that time there were very few of the Good You, but thank goodness there were a few. This gave me a glimmer of hope.

The Bad You refused to educate me or my children. You made it a death penalty for anyone to teach me to read. Among many things, the Bad You refused to allow me to vote.

However, there were a few Good You who taught me in defiance of these bogus rules. This gave me a glimmer of hope.

Over the years, the few Good You steadily seem to be growing toward a majority. Recently, the Good You grew from thousands to millions, and then the Good You elected a black person to the highest office in the land: president of the United States. That night, my glimmer of hope evolved to a burning star.

Yet on that same night, a group of Bad You was already conspiring to keep me from voting; from getting a decent job, a promotion or an education; and from owning my own home.

The Bad You has since given me five years of gridlock and uncertainty designed to create instability.

Despite those efforts, our country is showing signs of progress and the economy is exceeding expectations, thus keeping my glimmer of hope that someday I will be accepted as a free person of color in the greatest country in the world.

So I ask once again, why do you still hate me? Why do you still despise me?

Just know this: The glimmer of hope is still alive.

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