On the Opinion page of your July 25 edition, Columnist Patsy Shepherd effectively unspun the “apology tour” myth Barack Obama haters have spun for the last nine years. In a letter on the same page, Ray Shamlin effectively addressed wasteful government spending. But in another letter on Aug. 4, Shamlin attempted to re-spin the “apology tour” lie with the same Heritage Foundation distortions Shepherd dispelled.

Personally, I have no problem with President Obama admitting our nation “has not been perfect.” What nation has? Other than Jesus Christ, what individual has? But what is wrong with admitting there were “darker periods in our history?” Were two centuries of human bondage and another of “Jim Crow” redefined slavery “lighter” periods? Were the harsh, exploitative working conditions that led to Sen. Robert Wagner introducing the National Labor Relations Act something to be proud of?

How about Sen. Strom Thurmond’s run for president on the segregationist “Dixiecrat” ticket while secretly supporting Essie Mae, his child by Carrie Butler, a “colored” servant? Or the Raleigh News & Observer segregationist editorials and WRAL racist rants that catapulted Jesse Helms into politics, where he became known as “Senator No” for his continual and only opposing vote to legislation to correct the egregious racist wrongs of our nation’s past?

But the mystery to me is the continual bashing of Barack Obama even after his presidency is over. The answer may be in who does it. Two of, if not the top two women in Donald Trump’s administration, continually criticize Obama, but among my peers, the never ending bashing comes from men. Men who hunted, fished, played ball and watched “wraslin’” and Jerry Springer while Barack Obama and other black intellectuals took advantage of our nation’s educational opportunity.

Of course, they are not alone. The current president, who continually criticizes Obama, is currently criticizing Lebron James, the black man who just opened a school for underprivileged children, as he publicly insults the intelligence of James, Don Lemon a black man intelligent enough to become a television news anchor, and Maxine Waters, a black woman intelligent enough to become a U.S. representative.

Is the Obama/black bashing due to things black intellectuals do wrong, or jealousy due to the lack of initiative that led to their critics becoming critics, rather than accomplished citizens who applied themselves to, rather than ignored our nation’s unparalleled educational opportunities?

What do you think?

Robert C. Currie Jr.

Laurinburg