Bruce Piatz’s contribution published in the P-J under the title “The Blame Game” needs clarification. He first suggests I wrote to oppose President Trump because Trump proposes “cutting 200,000 government jobs” and connected me saying I “[am] a government employee.” Well, it seems he plays loosely with facts. First, I retired from government service in December 2013 long before Donald Trump was even a candidate for office and, second, I made no recent reference regarding Trump’s budget proposal as it affects government hiring. Third, he also states that Heather Heyer, who died in Charlottesville, VA, did not die as the result of being hit by a car operated by a white supremacist, but died UNRELATEDLY from a heart attack.

Fact: everyone dies from some sort of organ failure – in the case of a car-inflicted injury a person can die from various causes such as brain damage, internal bleeding from crushed organs or, yes, heart failure. (I am unaware that she was simply a bystander, but if there is proof she was not hit, it would not alter the fact that her death was the result of the car incident.) However, the actual cause of death is not relevant; what’s important is she was in the crowd of people hit by a car and died as a result. Also, Mr. Piatz’s statement that there was a car “accident” is totally erroneous – the only issue for prosecutorial authorities to determine is if the driver’s action was premeditated or not – the action was no “accident.”

Mr. Piatz’s reference to not understanding the “past”, if it must be clarified, is that history seems to be repeating itself. The resurgence of white supremacist and “hate groups” is no accident. Those groups rose to prominence decades ago and were the reason that many white people felt compelled to compassionately support, including joining along with Blacks in their struggle for civil rights.

Today, the same, and/or similar types of groups have publicly stated they believe Donald Trump speaks for them and that he is giving them a platform to express their views (in spite of overwhelming public opinion opposing their racist/hate message).

So, much like during the period of civil rights struggles, many white people have joined with Blacks again to act and speak out against the public racist resurgence. It is, therefore, ironic, but notable, that one of the first people to die speaking out against the new, resurgent racism happened to be a white woman, much like Viola Liuzzo in 1965.

Mr. Piatz clearly does not understand history when he states that certain outspoken Blacks are white haters and are, in effect, no different from those leading white supremacist and “hate groups.” (This is the same message that, by way of lack of historical understanding, Donald Trump speaks of when he referred to criticism of “all sides” in his truthful, off-the-cuff remarks on the violence in Charlottesville.) Historically, how many white people were forced into slavery here in America? How many white slaves were killed, many by public hangings, for merely looking at Black women in the eyes? How many white slaves were scarred by whipping or burned by slave owners for whatever reason they could contrive?

How many “Jim Crow” laws affected white people after Blacks were “emancipated?” How many whites were forced into alleged “separate but equal” living conditions and were attacked with water cannons or beaten or killed when they protested? How many whites were denied entry into public schools before the federal government intervened? The obvious answer is “none.”

Further, why did Blacks have to get federal legislation for their civil rights, including the right to vote, when for white men their rights are enshrined in the Constitution? Why did they have to suffer and die to obtain equality? Why in this day and age are Blacks (and other growing minorities) incarcerated with much harsher sentences than whites for conviction of similar crimes? Why also are unarmed Black men profiled, shot or otherwise killed by police in disproportionately large numbers compared to other racial groups? In other words, Blacks, not whites have a long history of unimaginable suffering at the hands of primarily white men and I have no doubt that white men would have resisted and fought for rights similarly and would be suffering and responding the same as Blacks today if the shoes were on the other foot, so-to-speak. And, yes, because Donald Trump speaks differently from his truthful, off-the-cuff words than from remarks prepared by others and displayed on Teleprompters, and based on his history of treating other in business and his personal life, it is not rocket science to reason that he “supports” supremacy and hate groups at least benignly or indifferently because they support him.

(Ironically, why did it also take white women so long, and only via federal legislation, to obtain the same voting rights as white men and be treated relatively equally in other routine aspects of society?)

Do I wish that certain outspoken Blacks had different messages in response to white oppression? Yes, but that’s easy for me to say since I have benefited from being a white male in our society. I have no clue what oppression is. I have never been enslaved, profiled or mistreated by others. None of my relatives have been falsely arrested, incarcerated or shot or killed by police.

I’ve been able to live in “suburbia” all of my life and have the benefits of a good public education, a stable job and the “pursuit of happiness” as I choose. Blacks, for the most part during the same periods of time, have not had the same opportunities. There was one, only one, black student at my high school and he was victimized by others simply because of his race. However, racism was not an issue I had to confront myself.

Yes, Mr. Piatz, things Blacks say while protesting their past and current situation COULD be construed as supporting violence. However, with “White Power” inherent in our history, needing no named movement, I fully understand why the “Black Power” cause came into existence and why name calling against white oppression became more commonplace. The real question is does such Black name calling generate violence? So far, the answer is generally “no.” Mr. Piatz did not list any incidents of violence perpetrated by President Obama, who never spoke in support of violence, or from any other person he listed.

The U.S. has a history of rioting in response to injustices, by both Blacks and Whites going back over 200 years and in some cases innocent people and police have been targets. Mr. Piatz chooses to address only rioting by Blacks. Why? Personally is rioting OK? Not in my book, but I’ve never lived in frustrating conditions or been mistreated so I feel it is a mistake to condemn those who participate unless you understand where they come from and determine “injustice” is just an excuse for random violence. On the other hand, just days ago I heard someone call a local Black person, just someone doing a normal job, a “nigger” behind his back.

The person apologized, but ask yourself: why would a white person who has no known harmful experience with the Black person even think to say such a thing? As Mr. Piatz asked, “Couldn’t that be construed as supporting violence?” How will he answer that question? If the name-calling person is an example of white, suburban society, it is no wonder why Mr. Piatz notes that racial conflict did not calm after Barack Obama became president.

Could it be that the reality is that President Obama was looked at the same as the Black man just doing his job? I tend to believe that Obama was perceived by mostly white, male America as just one more Black man taking a job away from what is historically a white man’s job.

If you analyze the 2016 election results, even though Donald Trump lost the popular vote by a significant margin, Blacks did not vote as much as in the past and more white males supported Trump, especially in certain states.

Perhaps Blacks did not see a racial sea-change they hoped for under Obama and perhaps white males saw the writing on the wall that they will soon become a minority. Looking at recent history, the resurgence of white supremacist and hate groups makes the notion of racial calm still just a dream.

Ultimately, for many whites, failing to acknowledge history leads them to believe that there should be no “Black Lives Matter” movement; that all lives should matter. While “all lives matter” seems to be a wonderful statement, such a belief gives aid and comfort to white supremacy and hate groups as if their history compares to Blacks and they deserve equal consideration under the umbrella of our laws and Constitution. They don’t, and there are no two ways about it.

Paul L. Demler is a Jamestown resident.