LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Want change? Vote it in

OPINION:

I am a white, non-racist male. One of my closest friends and next-door neighbor, a black man who was a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a successful, good father and a contributor to our community, passed away last month as the result of a massive stroke. It was one of those “sad-but-glad” events in life: I was selfishly sad that a close friend had passed, but it was a good day because I knew his devout Christian faith would lead him onward.

A conversation we would have had about current events would focus on Baltimore (my birthplace), not necessarily focusing on the thugs’ criminal rioting, but the hypocritical “black vision” and call for change. This is the notion that the white man is suppressing the black man, when in many cases it seems it is actually the black man who is his own suppressor.

With Baltimore as the focus, our discussion would probably include the fact that the thugs are destroying their own neighborhoods and shouting for jobs they are not searching for while awaiting their continued entitlement payments. The rioters say they want change, but they continue to vote for the liberal black man’s party, which has promised change for the black man while providing little or nothing for decades.

We would go on to list the following facts to support our premise: The governors of Maryland for 41 of the past 45 years have been Democrats. The U.S. senators from Maryland since 1987 have been Democrats. The past seven mayors of Baltimore since 1967 have been Democrats. The past four U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland’s 7th district, including most of Baltimore City, since 1951 have been Democrats.

We would also mention the failure of the Democratic Party’s “unconditional” war on poverty. After 50 years and $22 trillion, most of which was spent on entitlement payments, the poverty level in the United States has remained stagnant. The hypocrisy of the war on poverty is that its implementation actually ended a rapid reduction in the U.S. poverty rate.

I think “change” by the good people of Baltimore should begin with their voting habits during their next election.

BRUCE WOOD

Manassas