Blacks, Latinos and Rebuild L.A.
African-Americans are not interchangeable with immigrants for affirmative action purposes. All American immigrants--Latino, Jewish, Japanese, Irish and others--came to this country voluntarily, to improve their lives. Almost all of them faced some hostility at different points in history from various elements of society. Only African-Americans came here as slaves, and have faced implacable racism from society at large for almost 400 years. Bakewell says that no one should work unless blacks can work too. As a white man of Irish and Jewish extraction, I find nothing wrong with that.
ROBERT N. JACOBS
Los Angeles
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