Open Letter to the U.S. President

Open Letter to the President of the United States

Oh’ I am going to catch hell for this letter to the President, but I have had enough – of the forked tongue and divisiveness in America, let alone the world. I am done, listening and not standing up. Both to the juvenile media (for the most part, (editorialized as it has become)), and to the slippery-slope of pleasing everyone seemingly supporting our President.

So here I go:

I voted for Barak Obama, as did my wife, but in our opinion, the manner by which he has appointed his Czars: The most recent being the “Green Czar” and in so on, along with other radically divisive thinkers, breaks my heart, my hopes and worries me for the future of our country, as well as the world. Even the US Attorney General, who has his own peccadillos to account for seems uncompromisingly self-righteous and unforgiving, which is not the manner by which a giving and thoughtful country behaves. Alas, we as a country seem to show little deference, and consideration, that bore our foundations of understanding and humanity as we developed our U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.

I voted for Barak, because, in my honest opinion, he was about Humanity, not about Race. It was inspiring and refreshing, save a few nut cases in the wings pushing the race card, that surrounded him.

Barak campaigned on a color-blind non-racial platform, devoid of affirmative action quota systems, that Dr. Martin Luther King would have denounced, had he remained alive for many years after his death, and certainly had been alive today. Dr. King is a historical HERO of mine, that few, I believe really understand, as he worked for the Civil Rights of All, not just the few.

Martin believed in hard work, standards and values, but understood that those who had been spit-on and down-trodden should have some recourse to pick themselves up. As I remember in the early 70’s, the second in command at the NAACP, resigned over the notion of quota systems to balance past wrongs. He knew as Martin did - that two wrongs do not make a right. As he, said, we should not just put people into positions of leadership or grant educational gifts, without merit. That what was needed for people who were forlorn and disenfranchised, is a system of remedial education and standard building to prepare them for the future. “Quote, we should not lower standards, if anything we should raise them”. To lower standards for admissions or promotions would be unfair to those who through no choice of their own had proper opportunities, but also to those of less than adequate opportunities. We need a middle ground that maintains standards, but offers hope to those, denied common opportunities in the past. In other words, if someone could not pass an SAT (Aptitude Test for College acceptance), they needed to go to remedial courses funded by the state to prepare properly, not let them just walk through the gates of education and deny others who possessed the proper skill sets, to fairly sit in a classroom. Dr. King knew this: That the Civil Rights legislation of 1964 was to make “color blind” our Starting Point for All, and that only testing and the capability of an individual would be the prerequisite for achievement. No one should receive extra tally points due to race or gender. [Period]. That was what the 1964 Civil Rights legislation was implicitly all about, if not in explicit word, implicit in intent.

The 1964 Civil Rights legislation, said that any individual denied the opportunity to a promotion or to an acceptance to a college or other position of leadership, who qualified on objective criteria, that had been discriminated against based on race or ethnicity would have the right of the government to intervene and that right corrected, through a term it called “Affirmative Action”. It could have been called “Assertive Action” or anything else, but its sole intent was to remedy individual discrimination based on race.

That was only right. But the implementation of the government, mandated that racial percentages constituted, racial fairness. (In other words, any work environment, educational institution, or team in theory should have racial proportionality in the working ranks.) That understanding plainly violated the US Constitution and the civil rights legislation of 1964, that Dr. Martin Luther King worked so effectively and properly for.

That one simple little paragraph, that used the phrase “affirmative action” in the 1964 Civil Rights legislation, turned America’s standards and values upside down. That was not its intent, nor Dr. King’s, - but that is what followed.

It is a disgrace that we use the race card today to justify, such discriminatory actions, as proper. I only wish, with all my heart and soul that Dr. King were alive today, as he would not have supported this divisive behavior of race based actions, that are again tearing this nation apart and violated his whole and honored proposition in life, and the US Constitution that he worked to change for the absolute better: Dr. King’s proposition was that: “We do not get extra merit points for race, but only for merit.”

I voted for Barak Obama, because I saw a different approach to this issue, as I believed he truly saw the merits of hard work and standards that Martin saw, and was trying to move us forward, not backward in the arena of race relations. But with his appointments to key positions, by what I would loosely speaking call reverse-racists from the other bitter side of the equation has disturbed me. This may set us back 20 years, toward division, not toward unification, as humanity, in terms of race and the goal of fairness in all of our human existence.

Our President may lose my vote in the next election, unless I see him speak out forcefully for the true humanity of all of us in the honored and wise vision, Dr. King had, and others of his stature throughout history, that I believe true and honored leaders called for. That being, of true spirituality, of caring, of fairness, of acceptance and love of others, based on objectivity, and wisdom, not based on absolute laws and rules that deny our very humanity, through the one-eyed vision of race or even certainly gender.

I have heard leadership politicians of late, who happen to be of all colors in the spectrum of race, suggest that people who disagree with Barak, do so because they are racist. This is the rhetoric of ignorance. As a matter of statistics that would be true, but in the smallest of measures, and to use that minority “race card” to color white or Asian, or Hispanic American’s as racist, who by the way, just elected a man of African background, among other backgrounds - is dirty, swine filled politics - of the lowest most cowardly, chip on the shoulder of politics I could define.

Let’s kick these race-baiters and race-players out of office and support the values of Dr. King and others who would fight to the death their values for true fairness, standards and love.

Mr. President, you need to speak up and tell these people to evaluate their behaviors, and stop contributing to a divisive America, rather than a Unified America. If you do not, then the climate of change, I truly believe you sought will die, my hopes will die, along with it your Presidency and the hope of a world in need of real, genuine and decent change. Oh’ and we do need the Change!!! This change is not easy, but imperative and it is now been given to you to lead.

I can only hope you do - lead in the direction of the truley great leaders of our history. I in large part, I voted for you to bring about this change, but am currently disappointed. Clearly though - I have not given up. Please, hold on to your wisdom, your unique integrity, I know you possess deeply in the core of your being, and prove me, oh’ so very wrong… I thought I knew you, but I am questioning myself now. Please, please prove me in error. I really think the world of you, or at least my conception of you. I wish you every, absolute success. It is imperative to this world.

This world needs unity, not division, needs caring, not disregard, needs hope for others, not assumptive hate, and ill-will, that helps no one. When we care for someone, we are uplifted. We need to try it sometime, and this world will perhaps change. But leadership – is no small part of that equation. And you Sir are our leader. I wish I had just one hour with you to discuss the merits or your Presidency and the value of your family and administration. You all mean so much, please do not roll over for the historic and understandably bitter of mind - but rather carry forward with your deep capabilities. It means everything… You are in a unique position, with a unique wisdom that transcends self, and I deeply care for your success. If squandered – so be it. But if managed well, the world evolves beyond the common, and finds its stride to the greatness, you alone may only be capable of providing.

Take the stand, and do what you know is right. You alone have in today’s world that capability.

Very Sincerely,
Russ Otter