President's reflections were not inappropriate

When reading the Aug. 27 article by Kathleen Parker, Washington Post columnist, I was taken aback by her statements on the president's reflections related to the Trayvon Martin case.

My interpretation of her column was that it was inappropriate for President Obama to speak of his own negative experiences as a young African-American. Parker, who is white, related that when she was a kid, she too had been “profiled” when entering a department store wearing “ratty jeans and T-shirt.” Comparing her experience with what many black kids experience every day is insensitive at best and outrageous at worst. To question why the president's reference to Trayvon was inflammatory and inappropriate is clearly evidence that she has no understanding that if Trayvon had been white he would most likely be alive today.

To chastise this or any president for speaking a moral truth causes me to believe that her view and that of many others in America is to deny President Obama and many others the freedom to speak the truth regarding the state of racial relations in this country.

Liz Hoskins

Cedar Rapids