Let’s not ignore the strides America has made when it comes to minority rights

I know I am older than most citizens, and I totally agree that there have been many injustices toward racial and religious minorities in my lifetime alone. But I would stress that great strides have taken place in the past 50 years toward the goal of “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

What isn’t helpful is the constant talk in the past decade about how bad things are when, in fact, great strides have taken place. When people make outlandish statements such as, “First responders to the shooting of the Republican members playing baseball should have let them die because they are white,” this is just as inflammatory as any white supremacist statements. As far as Mr. Reynolds’ statement that two-thirds of this country has governments that are hostile to blacks and other minorities, I am curious where he dug up this statistic.

Mr. Reynolds’ rhetoric certainly doesn’t help bring people together. Nor do the riots in the streets protesting one thing or another.

Great strides have been made toward the assimilation into mainstream society of all minorities. To stress continually one slight after another only polarizes our society further. Are we perfect? Of course not — and we will never be. But we should continue to strive for equal opportunity for all and cease the vitriol toward any one group.