Editor,

This is a response to the letter by Fred Wilferth dated March 18, which was in response to my letter dated March 16, in which I called out the hollow hypocrisy of anyone standing up at a public meeting and saying: “We honor the sacred grounds of indigenous peoples.”

Historically, the American government has honored indigenous peoples to about the same extent as the current Republican party honors the rule of law. Which is to say, zero. We are Americans and we can’t separate ourselves from our history by saying: “Don’t include me in it. My ancestors did not arrive util the late 1800s.” That’s like saying, “Don’t blame me for my entire existence and any wrong doing I might cause. I didn’t bring myself into the world. It’s all my parents’ fault.” We can’t erase our history, but we can choose not to be hypocrites.

As an old public school teacher, Mr. Wilferth, I give your letter to the editor an A grade for rationalization and irrelevance. Right up there with Nikki Haley trying to figure out why we fought the Civil War.

Steven V. Horton

Langley