Great books can open students’ eyes to civil rights

Once again, Dan Rodricks spoke for me and to me (“Dan Rodricks: A tweak to the history of redlining in Baltimore and other cities,” July 11). Decades ago, I was a high school English teacher in a working-class New Jersey town. It was a great school with terrific students and a supportive administration.

As we studied works in response to the civil rights movement, I broke the class into four groups. One read “Manchild in the Promised Land” by Claude Brown. The second read is “The Invisible Man” by Ralph Ellison. The third read “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin, and the fourth read “Native Son” by Richard Wright. Each group had to report on the book and do a creative presentation. The result was extraordinary, and the presentations were insightful and powerful.

If any parents complained, I never heard it, and those in authority were always so supportive.

The enthusiasm and involvement of these public-school sophomores were contagious. I could never teach in a place where mandates would prevent me from this kind of teaching.

Ironically, perhaps, the summer book group I now have led for over a decade as a pastor just read “James” by Percival Everett, a brilliant book imagining Huck Finn’s Jim. It has the same visceral impact on our adult group as those books did on my awesome kids years ago.

Thank you, Dan. Like those of all these authors (prophets?), your words are so desperately needed “in times like these.”

— Rev. Sharon Smith, Timonium

Throw out the bums in Congress

Armstrong Williams’ latest column on the failings of our gutless Congress was probably his most important to date (“Armstrong Williams: Congress is AWOL. Voters should throw out craven members.” July 7).

The numerous examples he cites make the case for his call to “throw out craven members.” In fact, because almost all Republicans and more than a few Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate fit that description, the voters should do what used to be a common cry of the press and outraged voters when I was a lot younger: “Throw the bums out!”

Start anew with a fresh crop. The new ones could certainly do no worse than the current poor excuses for legislators.

— Harris Factor, Columbia

Biden’s circumstances are not unlike LBJ’s

I read the letters to the editor about President Joe Biden’s current crisis, and I am mildly surprised that no one mentioned the uncommitted voters (“Biden’s bad night is better than Trump’s best day,” July 10).

Like thousands of people in various states, I voted uncommitted on the Maryland primary ballot. There was a sizable uncommitted vote in several swing states. I could not vote for Biden, as he is complicit in the war crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip. According to the polls, Donald Trump leads in the battleground states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of those, the RealClearPolitics average of polls has Trump up by more than 5 points in Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

The uncommitted voters will have to make a choice. Vote for Biden with disdain because the alternative is so much worse. I cannot imagine any uncommitted voter would vote for fascism. But they could vote for a third party or not vote for president at all.

It seems the president is stubborn and believes he can win in November. If Trump wins the swing states and returns to the White House, Biden’s stubbornness will be the lead line in his obituary.

This year is starting to look a lot like 1968 when a president who was widely praised for his Great Society program was vilified because he supported a vulgar war in Vietnam. Biden’s performance with his domestic programs is congratulated, but his support for the killing of thousands of women and children in Gaza reminds me of the chant, “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” It is difficult to predict the outcome in November. But if Biden loses to Trump, utter pandemonium, ushered in by the corporate-owned U.S. Supreme Court, could cause a civil war.

— Max Obuszewski, Baltimore