Dear Larry: I want to respond to the column dealing with a minority shoplifter and the column about a black man being called an Uncle Tom at a baseball game for standing while the national anthem was played.

There is an old saying: "What's wrong is right." It seems as if in so many situations dealing with minorities, the right thing to do is made wrong, and the wrong thing somehow is twisted to be right or is forgotten about.

I have read about many cases in which minorities were caught doing things that are illegal and the people who caught the suspects were accused of racial profiling. It's like some police reports in which white cops stop black motorists for either traffic violations or driving under the influence and the crimes are immaterial under a racial-profiling cloud.

In some police shootouts that involve white cops and black suspects, the cops are called racist for shooting black men, regardless of the circumstances or what was right or wrong.

There was a situation a couple of years ago in which a lot of drug activity was happening in a neighborhood. The suspected dealer was black. The police department sent in an undercover cop who was also black to get all the evidence they needed and to arrest the dealer. Unfortunately, the bust went badly, and the cop and the dealer ended up in a shootout. The dealer was shot and was paralyzed from the chest down. A few weeks later, the dealer and his family sued the cop and the police department. A number of members in the black community started calling the undercover cop an Uncle Tom and told him that he should have reasoned with the dealer instead of shooting him.

This black police officer risked his life to make sure the community would be safe from somebody who wanted to engage in illegal activities. And what thanks did he get?

I'm really confused, Larry. Why is it that whenever a black person does something honest, such as stopping another black person from doing something wrong, all he gets are repercussions from some members in the community?

Whenever I hear a report of a white person stopping another white person for illegal activities, he is praised for his efforts. — Pat

Dear Pat: For the past few decades, playing the race card has been an effective tool for dealing with racial situations. It has worked in many cases for escaping illegal situations. If a criminal is caught doing wrong and has no other defense, the race card is the only thing left to play in the deck.

Over the years, I have seen the race card played for almost every human activity. Some are true, but I'm sad to say that too many are not true. Every time a person wrongly uses the race card, it diminishes the legitimate claims of racism. I believe America is getting tired of and starting to turn its back on both false and legitimate claims.

I hope the people involved in the current race for the White House are listening. Don't play the race card unless there is hard evidence. Frivolous statements of racism will cause your side to lose votes.

To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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