Driving whites to Trump

It is gratifying that after several columns by Clyde Brooks, the Daily Herald posted a contrarian column by former Major General James Mukoyama, the son of Japanese immigrants. Brooks fails to acknowledge any progress in race relations over the past 150 years (he still brings up those terrible "Dick and Jane" books and "Tarzan" movies). His stock in trade is ascribing to whites "systemic" and "institutional" racism.

I am convinced the vast majority of Americans doesn't know to what those terms refer: To police departments only? If not, what departments do the accusers have in mind? All departments throughout the country? It surely sounds like the latter. If so, just how can the actions of a relatively few police officers serve as an indicator that all American institutions are systemically racist?

I am 91 years old and a lifelong resident of Chicago and the suburbs. Except as a 12-year-old when some playmates made fun of blacks, I have personally met only one person who used racist speech and/or exhibited racist tendencies. Progressives have been successful beyond their wildest dreams in getting away with labeling whites in general as racists. General Mukoyama, I and the vast majority of white Americans take strong issue with this gratuitous indictment. Mukoyama hit the nail on the head when he countered that, in general, it is not systemic racism, but systemic freedom that characterizes this country,

Progressives need to realize that by lambasting all whites with unsubstantiated charges of "systemic racism" they are driving them into the Trump camp.

Hans Schultz

Arlington Heights