Recently, The Sanders County Ledger published a column called “Street Smart” written by Blaine Blackstone, titled “Group hug mentally won’t work.” (November 22, 2018)

I am writing in response to the first line of that column and I quote: “ I am a white, pro-life, Christian, heterosexual male, Republican, who supports a strong immigration policy.” My question is for Mr. Blackstone. Is that sentence not the definition of bigotry? Why do we, the Sanders County Ledger readers, care about your sexual orientation or what color your skin is? Are we to support your views on any immigration policy based on those “traits”?

What if I am Jewish, if I am a woman, if I am Japanese or homosexual? Is your first sentence meant to shock us into thinking like you or is it that you feel the need to teach those of us who are not just like you? I didn’t read anything in your column that might make myself or my family safer (street smart) - just your opinion based on your “real world” experiences. My real world experience tells me, bigotry is NOT the answer to our border problems.

Jeannie Burke,

Thompson Falls