Black experience in America

Re “The Wright choice,” editorial, May 1

I am sure that The Times does not intend to exclude blacks from the general public with the phrase “the general public, which does not share the black experience in America.” Perhaps it is evidence of the pervasive influence of racism, however, that such words could be written and end up in an editorial.

The phrase is inaccurate in a broader way. Many of us who are not black do literally share the black experience. We are married to blacks and have black relatives. We are close friends with blacks or have black neighbors. We work closely with blacks, and they are our teachers or students.

Even more broadly, all of us who have experienced prejudice, exploitation and oppression in one form or another can relate to the essence of the black experience in America.

Rick Rhoads

Marina del Rey