Keep Leonard Pitts!

I felt compelled to implore you to please keep Leonard Pitts’ columns in the wake of other letter writers’ complaints about his column. My advice to those folks would be to move their eyes down the page and not read his column.

Or, better yet, read it and gain some wisdom from him. Rather than being “hate-filled,” as some have claimed, I (a middle-aged white guy) have found Pitts’ columns deeply insightful and often moving. Moreover, they have encouraged me to to self-reflect on my own views of race in this era where we still see overt racism, and to work towards eliminating that, as well as the more insidious systemic racism still so prevalent in our country.

Rather than eliminating Pitts’ column, my advice to the editor would be to eliminate Marc Thiessen’s consistently Trump-loving, magic-filled whirlwind tour through un-reality. Thiessen strains journalistic credibility. He makes political spin get dizzy. You could just as easily get that sort of opinion by plugging into Fox News, Breitbart, or a similar conspiracy-driven outlet.

Or we can all just try to tolerate one another, appreciate the divergence of opinions on the opinion page, and work towards the common good.

Thank you, and wishing all your readers a safe, healthy, and prosperous 2021!

Charles Christian Anderson

Spokane