Book review wrong in assessment of Carter
I disagree with “A White House full of contradictions,” Living, June 22, that former President Carter did not connect well with people. After the hostage fiasco, which was considered the reason he lost the election to Reagan, I volunteered to work in his transition office, reading hundreds of letters addressed to him. Each letter was to be placed in a stack that pertained to the problem reported in the letter. (I was especially touched by a letter from a young, gay man.) It was clear that the writers saw him as a caring person.
Carter was sometimes portrayed as a humorless Puritan, but he was quick to laugh when among friends. My reward for volunteering was to have my photo made with him and Roselyn, so I asked to have him stand between us, “so people won’t notice how much prettier she is than me.” He laughed out loud, but I never received the photo I had been promised. Maybe he just didn’t have the right people supporting him.
MARGARET CURTIS, ATLANTA
Critical Race Theory is just an academic construct
Critical race theory is just that, a theory. It has been around since the 1970′s. More than that, it is an academic construct. For those who do not understand, that means you start with an answer, in this case the long-term relationship of slavery and American history, then work backwards to literally “cherry-pick” the evidence to support that answer.
Since our educational system does not seem to teach what I feel is the most important part of our learning process, i.e., the faculty for critical thinking, I don’t believe this exercise should be presented to pre-collegiate students, if even then.
STUART BERKOWITZ, MARIETTA
