To the editor: Gustavo Arellano’s column “2022 was the year Latino politicians became the ultimate villains” gave me a unique sense of his advocacy for double standards.
As a white woman of a certain age, I’ve spent most of my life bound by double standards. You have to outperform men for the same amount of reward and recognition.As Xicano’s wife and mother of her two mixed-race daughters, adding “color” to the mix means triple You can see firsthand how it starts to look like her standard.
Can Politicians Be Role Models? Of course, it takes a lot of skin and focus to succeed in the face of such adversity and personal attacks.
I think most politicians start with the goal of improving the lives of many people. Los Angeles will undoubtedly come into its own in these fiercely contested and often ugly campaigns. To actively do good for voters, politicians must win.
Can politicians be role models in terms of being impeccable human beings? They are people just like everyone else. You have to recognize what is good and what is bad. Expecting perfect people to represent every ethnicity is idealistic, if not unfair.
Tamara Gould, Topanga
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To the editor: We are in a political depression. There are candidates who are ineligible to run for and be elected to local, state, and federal offices. These offices are filled with veteran politicians who are more interested in holding power and serving themselves than serving voters.
Voters try to make civil servants public servants to serve their communities. They must be better informed about the men and women they choose to represent.
It’s not who you look like that counts. Importantly, the public officials we vote for represent the ideas and agenda of our community.
Donald Peppers, Pomona
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To the editor: The most dishonest and selfish politicians in Los Angeles (city and county) are likely to be Latinos. The most credible and selfless politicians in LA tend to be Latinos.
The most stupid and ignorant LA politicians tend to be Latinos. LA’s smartest and most learned politicians are likely Latinos.
The most racist politicians in LA may be Latinos. The LA politicians most supportive of diversity and inter-ethnic cooperation are probably Latinos.
This is easily explained. Latinos are LA’s largest ethnic group and largest potential voting block. As a 60-year-old Caucasian living in Los Angeles, I’m fine with that.
If not, try to get used to it.
Mary Rouse, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Arellano’s column on the limits of ethnopolitics resonated with me.
When Antonio Villaraigosa ran for mayor, I walked around the precincts and worked at the telephone bank. And when I found out about his post-mayoral employment at the alleged pyramid scheme Herbalife, I felt like an idiot.
Bob Lentz, Schirmer
