Massey: Consider reparations for those denied opportunities

Mark Vanselous, you talk about the countless groups of Americans who made this country what it is (“Slavery reparations won’t fix mistakes of past”). The atrocities of slavery made this country! In the years going forward, many Black individuals couldn’t just pull themselves up and get past the obstacles because their first obstacle was the color of their skin. Opportunities were denied them every step of the way, solely because of the color of their skin.

You don’t want to remove statues, pictures, etc., of my ancestors’ oppressors “to appease a few”? We are not a few! We are generations of people who find it hard to see people held up in such high regard, knowing what they stood for. I’m glad that your family came from Europe with nothing and pushed forward.

Annette Massey

Smyrna

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