Injustice has always been part of America. What's new is white people are being targeted too.

Dear fellow white people:

I write with a very heavy, yet hopeful heart.

We are presently in very dangerous and threatening times. The killings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti have caused enormous outrage in this country, as they should, as they were both killed by out-of-control federal agents sent by an evil secretary of Homeland Security. My hope is that this moment will not just be an awakening to the narcissist in the White House who cares about no one but himself and his billionaire friends but will be an even greater awakening for the America that has failed to fulfill the promise of liberty and justice for all.

While examining our present state, we must also consider the many wrongs our nation has committed in the past. I pray this moment will be a time to acknowledge those wrongs, repent for them and correct them so that, as the late Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan said, ALL Americans will have “an America as good as its promise.”

Every 12-step program to recovery includes Step 8 — making a list of all the people we have harmed and being willing to make amends to them all. Brothers and sisters, for too long and in too many ways, white privileged men (myself included) and much of the white middle and upper classes have benefited from the suffering of others. We have ignored or denied the needed reparations for African Americans, Indigenous people and Latinos. Outrageous killings — like those of Good and Pretti — have been a reality in the African American community since the first ship landed in Virginia’s Point Comfort on Aug. 20, 1619. We have ignored centuries of enslavement, lynching, Jim Crow, institutional racism, misogyny and paternalism. We cannot do this anymore. The day will come when Donald Trump will be gone, but we cannot go back to systems and structures that were built to continue injustice, inequality and white supremacy.

Brothers and sisters, we must use this moment in time as an opportunity to examine who we are and what we need to change to become the America we claim we want to be. We must apologize for our wrongdoings and make sure it doesn't happen again. The evil we find ourselves in is not new. What is new is that it has suddenly leaked into communities not previously affected. We are suddenly experiencing the kind of extreme and tragic injustice that other communities have suffered for centuries. It is time to recognize and acknowledge our worst selves in order to become better selves so we can move forward to build the America we say we seek to be.

Rev. Michael L. Pfleger, senior pastor, Faith Community of St. Sabina Church

Chicago History Museum staff deserve respect

I welcomed Sun-Times' Erica Thompson’s piece a few days back on the leadership transition at the Chicago History Museum. As a longtime member, I am hoping the next CEO will bring a new appreciation for the museum employees who make it one of the city’s crown jewels.

Early last year, I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar on the museum’s collection of fire insurance maps at the Abakanowicz Research Center. The knowledgeable staff cheerfully guided dozens of us through those amazing volumes that illustrate in beautiful detail the city’s past structures going back to the Civil War years. With their help, I was able to locate the small eatery that my great-grandfather owned on Desplaines Street at the turn of the last century.

That was just one of the many discoveries about my family’s long history that I have been able to find over the years through the museum’s collections and displays. (Though I admit seeing a set of my childhood’s encyclopedias in a 1960s exhibit certainly made me feel my age.)

The museum also has been important in educating my children on the importance of the past, as well as a go-to site to show out-of-town visitors. It is truly a gem among the city’s many cultural treasures.

That is why I was so appalled by the leadership’s hostility to the staff’s union this past year. The museum has long celebrated Chicago’s role as the center of the labor movement and fight for social justice. When I spoke with the research staff last year, they were excited about their new union. Yet they would be among those punished by the management for exercising their state constitutional right to collective bargaining.

Having been involved in nonprofit management for years, I know that balancing the books is always a challenge. But I also know that an organization’s greatest asset is its employees.
 
John D. Cameron, West Ridge

Good riddance: Damen Silos are gone

Let's not talk about Donald Trump for a moment. Instead, let us enjoy a new, beautiful location on the Southwest Side where the Damen Silos once stood.

Just not seeing these huge concrete towers is a big improvement. And looking at this area that was covered in ugly graffiti is such a welcome change.

The area north of the Stevenson Expressway and east of Damen Avenue has a fresh, new look and provides an amazing view of downtown from a few miles away.

An old eyesore is gone and no one will miss it. The wrecking contractor of the demolition did a superb job of clearing the area. Perhaps the public will get some access to the Chicago River here, just as there is on the North Side.

This is a Chicago story with a happy ending for everyone.

Steven J. Bahnsen, South Commons