The piece in the June 6 Bulletin by State Rep. Cheri Helt showed an intelligent and sensitive grasp of the need for leadership and action. More must be done in our community to ensure that citizens of color are heard regarding the policies of diversity, opportunity and justice.

I grew up in Fresno, California, in the 1930s where at one time, Armenians (I being one) couldn’t buy homes in some parts of town. In the 1970s, I was a vice principal in an all-black high school. I saw the challenges that they faced.

Social injustice is nothing new. One and a half million Christian/Armenians (many of my ancestors included) were slaughtered in the early 1930s at the hands of the Ottoman Empire. Look what happened to the millions of Jews, blacks and gays during the Nazi regime. There is Rwanda, Syria and so many more cultures that have been virtually reduced to almost annihilation.

Our nation is in desperate need of leadership in the White House that is sensitive and vocal to the injustices that are facing many of our citizens.

Rep . Helt is a leader who knows those issues, and I am thankful for her service.

— Richard Asadoorian, Sunriver

The New York Times Morning Briefing of June 3 included a column titled, “When Jail Becomes Normal.” The column kicked off with “Many white people don’t know a single person who’s currently behind bars,” then proceeded to cite some statistics:

• 10% of black men in their 30s are behind bars on any given day.

• Incarceration rates for black men are about twice as high as those of Hispanic men, five times higher than those of white men and at least 25 times higher than those of black women, Hispanic women or white women.

• At last count (2001), 17% of black men have spent time in state or federal prison, vs. 3% of white men.

The New York Times presents these statistics without asking relevant questions a critical thinker would need to know before rushing to conclusions. In order to introduce objectivity, let’s gather some facts:

• What percentage of imprisoned black men were tried, convicted and sentenced in local, state or federal court? Fifty? Seventy? Ninety? One hundred percent?

• By category, what are the top 10 crimes for which black men were convicted?

• How many incarcerated black men have multiple convictions?

So in other words, let’s determine whether or not police departments are rounding up a certain segment of the population and throwing them in prison without cause or due process.

I think the overwhelming percentage of honest, brave officers who put their lives on the line every day deserve at least that much.

— David Michaels, Bend

To all those who hide behind their white privilege and believe all the protesting is much ado about not much, Bob Dylan said it best in 1964:

“Your old road is rapidly agin’

Please get out of the new one

If you can’t lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin’”

— Rick Neufeld, Bend

Apparently on social media, which I don’t read, state Rep. Cheri Helt posted that Trump is unfit for office. The Bend Bulletin then had a five- column writeup about Ms. Helt and her beliefs, as well as others. She says “when America was confronted with the local pandemic, the president’s response was bad — but his rhetoric and actions since the killing of George Floyd are even worse.” Please could Ms. Helt or someone tell me what our president has said that makes him unfit for office. Maybe it is because I don’t watch CNN or other biased media to know how unfit this guy is.

— Ann Reed, Redmond

Our president seems to delight in practices that mature adults refrain from engaging in. Most of us were taught as children that name calling, bullying, lying, threatening and throwing temper tantrums is not appropriate. Donald Trump was apparently not taught those moral lessons. His childish erratic behavior has caused him to lose credibility with a large percentage of Americans and alienated most of our allies.

He has foolishly called the current pandemic a hoax and immaturely refused to wear a mask even though medical experts have told us that masks will help prevent the spread of the virus.

The president of the United States needs to be a role model in both speech and behavior. I never heard our former president call people names, try to intimidate anyone, use foul language on national television or refuse to listen to the advice of experts in their field. He was and is still a positive role model.

The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.”

Donald Trump still speaks, reasons and behaves like an undisciplined adolescent. We desperately need a mature and emotionally stable adult in the White House, especially in times of national crisis.

— Frank Barnes, Bend

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