To the Editor:
I heartily disagree with J. D. Vance. We are spending all kinds of time and ink trying to gentrify ugliness, because these belief holders are our relatives, our neighbors or our friends. We cannot face the simple notion that these attitudes framed by Donald Trump and embraced by his followers (Mexicans are criminals, Muslims are terrorists, blacks are lazy, etc.) are simply racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, cruel and hateful.
I sit in deep blue California at restaurants, social settings, bars and gatherings and listen to the things people say when they are liberated from social niceties and decorum, and I can confirm that a really disturbing number of people you would call financially comfortable and educated believe these things are true. There has always been dissatisfaction with the job, the government and so forth. What Donald Trump has tapped into is not that. He, with the aid of the media, has sought to popularize hatred.
NANCY HUGHES
San Francisco
Note from KBJ: When did Donald Trump say that "Mexicans are criminals, Muslims are terrorists, blacks are lazy, etc."? Are you making this stuff up, Nancy? Surely what he meant, even if he said those things (which, to my knowledge, he did not), is that some Mexicans are criminals, some Muslims are terrorists, and some blacks are lazy, all of which are patently true. With all due respect, Nancy, it sounds like you're the hater.
