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As the first black President, has Barack Obama done enough to battle racism in a nation where the colour divide runs long and deep? Readers, print and digital, explore race and power on both sides of the border

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Barack Obama missed a golden opportunity by not attending a ceremony in Gettysburg in 2013 to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's fabled address (Recasting Race Relations From The Bully Pulpit – Dec. 15).

What is Mr. Obama waiting for now? He doesn't need to worry about being re-elected. His legacy has to be made now, not for the nation, but for his children. One day, he will have to answer the question posed by his daughters when they experience discrimination themselves: "Daddy, what did you do for us?"

As President, Mr. Obama must accept that sometimes principles and what you believe in have to rule over politics.

Yvonne Temple, Ottawa

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Nov. 19, 1863: Lincoln, invited to speak at Gettysburg, says: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that 'all men are created equal.' "

Nov. 19, 2013: A black President, invited to speak at Gettysburg, says … nothing. Because he was a no-show at history's doorstep. And pretty much a no-show in race relations, period.

Chantrall Jackson, Victoria

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The real audacity of hope? That just by electing a black man, racism would somehow get better in America. That's almost as audacious as hoping that just because aboriginal people tell us what they need to move forward, we will respond. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – and sadly, he's white. And he's not in a giving mood when it comes to granting some wishes (Harper Continues To Resist Missing Women Inquiry – Dec. 18).

Ross Brown, Saint John

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I see civil unrest for years to come in the U.S. This has been Barack Obama's greatest failure.

Axel Brosi, Bowmanville, Ont.

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Barack Obama was elected, he's only one man, not God. U.S. citizens were in need of hope for change, for healing! That didn't happen, not all over. The responsibility for healing is not for someone else to own. It's for each to own their own healing.

Karyn Pangman, Winnipeg

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The most interesting part of Andrew Cohen's column on JFK's versus Barack Obama's rhetoric on race relations was who was missing. That was Lyndon Baines Johnson. History made LBJ president, and he made sure JFK's dream became law. The Civil Rights Act of March, 1964, was passed due to nothing less than Johnson's ruthlessness and natural feel for politics. He was able to twist every arm that needed to be to pass the law, even some southern racist colleagues'.

JFK would never have pulled it off. Why did LBJ do it? He had an innate affinity for the poor and disadvantaged, with his upbringing and teaching experience in hill country Texas. He believed in Kennedy's call, and his personality and experience in politics made sure it became law.

Who is Barack Obama's LBJ?

Kevin Bishop, Saanich, B.C.

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I can't help but think that when it comes to the conditions of many of our aboriginal peoples in Canada, we are not much different than the civil rights realities that unfolded under then-president John F. Kennedy in 1962-63.

JFK poignantly asked: "Who among us would be content with the counsels of patience and delay?" How long have our Canadian aboriginal peoples been told to have patience, and yet continue to find themselves left with the crumbs from development opportunities, or worse, suffer deep economic disparities and horrendous miscarriages of justice, be it residential schools, or the murders of aboriginal women?

Our federal government rejects holding an inquiry into the issue of murdered and missing aboriginal women and insists it's a criminal issue. As Canadians with European-settler roots, we need to go beyond our legal blinders and consider, as JFK once did concerning civil rights, that there are deep moral issues that first need to be addressed. Canada requires leadership with a moral compass, not the standard status-quo line that the courts can decide.

If that's the route the PM wants to go, Canadians will soon see where the courts will lead us, and it is not a pretty picture.

Leo J. Deveau, Halifax

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ON REFLECTION Letters To The Editor

Document doctoring

Re McGuinty's Top Adviser Told Aides How To Erase E-Mails (Dec. 19): I have a modest proposal regarding the $10,000 paid to wipe selected gas plant data files from computers in former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty's office.

Rather than paying this princely sum to the spouse of the premier's former deputy chief of staff, the next time a similar need arises they should simply buy a $40 piece of software.

It will get the job done at a saving to the Ontario taxpayer of about 99 per cent.

Steven Diener, Toronto

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Roll the credits

Re After Film Is Cancelled, Controversy Erupts (Dec. 19): Here are some new movies that have been changed, and approved by the North Korean government after it made sure The Interview was deep-sixed: Beverly Hills is Alive with the Sound of Hackers; The Godfather, Part … (sorry, we've destroyed all the rest of the parts); The Wizard Of North Korea. You get the picture … or maybe you don't.

Terry Toll, Campbell's Bay, Que.

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Married to justice

Re New Judge Criticized Legalization Of Gay Marriage (Dec. 18): It's clear that there are differences of opinion about the gay world. It's also clear that some of us are gay, some are not. Some of us are black, some are white. Some of us are English, some are French. But we are all equally legitimate members of the species, we all have a right to be here and to be ourselves as we were born.

I find it appalling that a judge does not have an intuitive sense and an informed understanding of the human condition.

Layton Fisher, Sackville, N.B.

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Stressed? Be nicer

Re Publish Or Perish Is Taking Its Toll (Dec. 17): Given the legendary nature and extent of the role that politics plays in academic circles, faculty members might easily reduce their stress levels by being nicer – to each other.

Nigel Waters, Calgary

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