To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Mr. Timothy Albright’s March 26, 2015 letter to the editor about racism. I not only find it disgusting and appalling, but misguided, hurtful, and disrespectful to falsely accuse, with no legitimate facts, the Republican Party of being in his words, “almost always” racist. To use Schoharie County and your grandparents (who represent a major generational gap) as the reason for your “conclusion” to that statement is ignorant and does not prove anything.

Yes, racists exist, no denying that but to accuse an entire group of people of being so is wrong. Are you going to sit there and say Senator Tim Scott and Congresswoman Mia Love are racists, too, because they are Republican? The notion that the party is about “rich, old white men” is so outdated, yet many liberals use this statement as a scare tactic.

Young people are coming out in droves to the Republican Party due in part to the platform of equal opportunity for all, among countless other sound ideas and solutions to many of our problems. Many factors play into where racism may exist.

Generational gaps, economic conditions, and location all play a factor, but simply being Republican or conservative does not instantly label someone a racist. If so, stop! If you or anyone else believes that, then maybe look in the news or do some real research.  

Your accusations about the Republican Party are baseless and wrong to say, especially in a world where we are trying to educate our youth on proper discourse and to respect a diversity of opinions. I have many strong cases to state where someone in the Democratic Party has said racist comments, but I’m not going to sit here and point fingers at a political party all day.

It isn’t a party issue, it’s a people issue. Racism is built on the fear of the unknown, fear of what we do not know or understand about races and cultures besides our own. Racism unfortunately will never go away, it is human nature, but we can be helpful through education, programs, and good moral values, rather than be ignorant with our comments to a newspaper.

Help be part of the solution then, not the problem. Educate others on how to accept and understand so we can live in a sound society. My past two years of college have taught me a lot about other cultures and various opinions others may have and I’ve learned to respect and value these opinions. Young people today are far different than our grandparents, and we have come a long way, but work still needs to be done.

Next, Republicans and conservatives do not “reject” social issues. You just don’t like their approach to solve these issues, which is fine. The great thing about our country is having your own opinion, but using “reject” is probably the incorrect term to use. To say Republicans don’t believe in helping the poor or working class, or that Democrats believe in helping more is another one of your baseless and false accusations.

Both parties work, with very different ideas, to help the poor, elderly and especially our veterans. I could continue on these issues, but I might go over my allotted word count before I finish.

Lastly, the Republican Party does not, nor does the Democratic Party, support racism but to say the Republican Party provokes it is also misguided, blatantly false, and appalling. No party tries or even wishes to provoke racism. I won’t even touch on an outspoken “race-baiter,” which many, including some Democrats, have called Rev. Al Sharpton.

Now, I will probably be called a racist myself for this letter, simply because I am a Republican or outlining Mr. Albright’s false and appalling comments, but that is your opinion. I stand by my comments and my party which, as stated, promotes equal opportunity for all, personal freedom, and the pursuit of happiness for everyone in this great nation.

Josh VonHaugg

Knox

Editor’s note: What Timothy Albright wrote in his letter, reflecting on his own party allegiance, was this: “...Republicans are not racist, but racists are almost always Republicans or Conservatives....”