Raghu Ballal: Same bias, different time

It is heartening to see some frank discussion about racism (“Flagging race,” June 23 editorial), starting with the first black president and leaders in South Carolina.

But if we do not hoist the flag up, does the inherent bias go away? It is almost like expecting al-Qaida would wither away after Osama bin Laden was killed.

Racist biases were inherent in the Constitution when the plantation owners (slave owners) were instrumental in writing it.

In the present, the same bias came out when the Republican leaders decided that they would try to make the first black president to be a one-time president. It is the same sentiment in rewriting the voting rights to make it difficult for minorities and the poor to vote and gerrymander districts to select out like-minded voters.

We can go on and on about all the shenanigans the ultra-rightists are demanding from their warped perspective, while ignoring that the country and world have changed phenomenally in the past 200 years.

This story was originally published June 27, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Raghu Ballal: Same bias, different time."