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Editor:

Lucy Klaus, in her letter attacking Tom Noehren spreads her version of Trumpism.  

She correctly points out the large effort Republicans had in Emancipation and during Reconstruction which was fought against by racist Democrats. However, once she reaches the ‘60s she suddenly develops amnesia on what happened after passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

All those racist Democrats like Strom Thurman became racist Republicans. Not much has changed since then. Take a look at pictures of the Class of 2018 freshmen congressmen and senators. There were 44 new Republicans with 40 white males and four white females. On the Democrat side there were 67 new representatives with 25 white males, three black males and 39 women. I guess Trump is doing his part in making more opportunities for diversification for minorities and women in Congress.

Secondly, Klaus needs to do a little research. The Nazi concentration camps were first built in 1933 while the Final Solution wasn’t decided upon until January 1942. The first Nazi concentration camp was Dachau, and it held political opponents of the Nazis as well as undesirables. They were meant for labor and re-education. When you put people in camps abuse and random deaths are inevitable. Google “Abu Ghraib.”

The point is that neither Nazi concentration camps nor ICE detention camps were created to murder people but with simple cruelty as the goal. Why are we separating immigrant children from their parents?

If you saw your neighbor keeping their children in the same conditions as ICE, wouldn’t you immediately call Virginia Child Protective Services?

Klaus is correct that we are not Nazis – at least not yet.  She should note that hate crimes rose 226% in counties where Trump held a rally during 2016. Also listen to the chants at Trump rallies and substitute “Sieg Heil!” for “Lock Her Up!” Wearing a brown shirt with a red MAGA hat makes for a stunning fashion statement. While not all Republicans are racist, all racists vote Republican.

As economist John Kenneth Galbraith said, “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” That’s why I’m voting Democrat.

James Peca

Farmville