Reader Responses

Well, it's official. Barack Obama is the presumptive Democrat nominee for president of the United States, an event of such magnitude and historic significance it leaves me grasping for words.

I am a lifelong right wing conservative Christian of Republican ilk who grew up in a segregated South where a black man was usually on the run but it wasn't for president; a time when water fountains, restrooms and other public facilities were very clearly marked "For Whites Only - No Colored Allowed." America has come a long way since Jesse Jackson was once arrested for attempting to enter a public library.

Against that backdrop, when Michelle Obama recently said that for the first time in her adult life she was proud of America, I understood immediately what she was really trying to say because it appears America is finally approaching that mountain top Dr. King envisioned in a dream 40 years ago, and I am also very proud of America today!

Now is the time for the more outspoken conservative talk show hosts to tone down the rhetoric that inflames and divides us in favor of exploring ways to bring harmony and understanding to this great nation.

All this in-fighting and other political nonsense is preventing America from really being that "light on a hill" that marks the way for other nations to follow.

No matter what happens in November, my prayer for America is that she will turn her back on racial ugliness of the past and "Form a more perfect union" where her citizens, whether they be red, yellow, brown, black or white will come together and truly become "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." God bless America!

Windel B. Marshall
Tyler