Race, gender aren't good basis for decisions

Reading the newspaper lately has left me wondering how people "think."

Steve and Cokie Roberts feel it's OK for Hillary Clinton to use the "woman" card to win the election. Why?

Now matter what gender the candidate is, shouldn't ability, honesty and integrity be why we elect someone? Gender should have nothing to do with it and should never be the reason someone gets elected.

Then we have Mellody Hobson using the reasoning that her being an African-American business woman is a reason to build that grotesque museum on Chicago's lakefront. How does that make it right?

Besides, it's not about her anyway. Then she also uses the reasoning that it should be built for black and brown children. If she truly feels that way, why wouldn't she want it built in a neighborhood in which black and brown children live instead of on the lakefront?

It seems more and more, these are the types of rationales I am reading and hearing lately, and I find it scary that this seems to be acceptable in today's society. At this rate, the America in which I was born and raised is rapidly disappearing and not enough people are concerned, or maybe they are and feel their only option is Donald Trump.

Janet Lumm

Schaumburg