To the editor:

Somewhere out there 1,000 monkeys pounding away on 1,000 typewriters are about to churn out an entire manuscript of Shakespeare’s Othello. How do I know this? Because Aaron Woell just wrote something with which I agree.

The unfortunate truth is that instances of racial injustice occur far too often and perhaps more regularly than Woell realizes.

But his hypothesis that the vocal segment of the African-American community continually feeds its young a heaping helping of unproven oppression and conspiracy theories may explain why people like Tarsha Clairborne and Deantrious Mitchell cry wolf when they experience personal problems and want someone else to bear the blame.

Popular accusations include: AIDS was developed by the government as a genocide tactic against blacks, the CIA assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. Army committed a mass execution of blacks during World War II.

Debate is now being waged on a proposed bill to pay reparation to descendants of enslaved Africans. It remains to be heard how an accurate determination of who gets what will be made.

No reasonable person would argue the atrocity of slavery nor deny that racial discrimination still exists today on an individual level, but when African-American leaders perpetuate myths such as these and support special interest legislation such as the reparations bill and affirmative action laws, they do a disservice to their own community and to the majority of Americans who respect their neighbors, no matter what their skin color.

Only one thing is for certain — our country needs to heal old wounds. It’s how we do it that will determine our success.

Avoiding the issue altogether or succumbing to cursory solutions because they are politically correct will only delay our progress.

Matt Haws

Resident

Chicago