Letters to the Editor: Trump’s reprehensible campaign strategy is to run against Black America

To the editor: President Trump’s visit to Kenosha, Wis., on Tuesday may be a watershed moment in the 2020 presidential campaign. Even with his massive ignorance of racial matters on full display over the last few years, some people thought he could learn and grow into a leader of all the American people.

But his refusal in Kenosha to acknowledge systemic racism, and his insistence on the “bad apple” theory of police misconduct, weaponizes his ignorance and reboots the centuries-long denial of racism’s presence and power.

Trump is now engaged in a power play against Black people, an all-too-familiar activity aimed at “keeping them in their place.” Who is he to deny the everyday racial experience of Black people? Who is he to ignore the voluminous social science data on racial injustice and inequality?

He is a dangerous man. He is a menace to the well-being of our society.

D. Keith Naylor, South Pasadena

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To the editor: Trump likening a golfer choking by missing an easy three-foot putt to a police officer choking by shooting an unarmed Black man is a classic “Freudian slip” that reveals he truly is a racist and is indifferent to the value of human life.

This extends to the indifference he showed to the health of the West Point cadets he called back for an in-person address in June. It also extends to his recent campaign events at the White House and in New Hampshire, where few people were wearing masks despite being in a crowd.

Perhaps Freud would say that Trump, deep within himself, is indifferent to the value of his own life. He shows signs of self-destructiveness, and perhaps his indifference to the virus and to healing our country’s divide is an unconscious effort to take as many of us along with him as he can.

Joanne O’Roark, Santa Barbara

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To the editor: I know that the Los Angeles Times was not in favor of Trump being elected in 2016, because seemingly every day there negative articles about the president in the paper.

Still, I continue to be a loyal subscriber to the L.A. Times, as I have been for the last 70 years. Friends often express surprise that I still receive the paper, as if it is so out of date to do so. But, I have remained loyal.

However, it really annoys me that you routinely publish front-page articles about our president that have a snarky tone. One of these days, if The Times does not discontinue this practice, I may join the hordes who no longer subscribe.

Barbara Hardesty, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I have a radical suggestion to make to Democrats and Black Lives Matter demonstrators.

No matter what the provocation, no matter how just the cause, by ending all demonstrations until after the election, we can completely squash Trump’s chance of winning.

I’m not saying the Black Lives Matter movement should stop; I’m saying it should become even more political and strategic.

Take the “law and order” issue out of Trump’s hands, and what does he have to run on? His COVID-19 strategy? The economy? Equality and the American dream? Draining the swamp?

Imagine if the streets in American cities were empty for the next 60 days. Imagine if the demonstrations went underground and organized voter registration drives, poll-watching efforts and precinct canvassing, all in preparation for the greatest demonstration of all.

That demonstration is, of course, election day.

Strip away Trump’s power of lies. Stay home. Neuter his campaign. Make your voice heard in the loudest possible way — by winning on election day.

Rick Rosenthal, Los Angeles

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To the editor: Here in Great Britain, we are lumbered with an ineffective, incompetent and deeply divisive right-wing government that has handled COVID-19 terribly.

But however utterly awful our government gets, the U.S. president is always two steps ahead. He is openly racist and deliberately fanning the flames of hate. No western nation has, post-war, had such a despicable leader.

I hope with all my heart that Trump loses catastrophically. America cannot afford four more years of Trump, but neither can the world.

Sebastian Monblat, London