Dear editor:

While we are very happy to see that people we don’t know are reading our letters, it seems Karen Miller (in the May 22 Tribune) is spewing the hatred she is accusing us of.  It is curious how quickly someone pulls the good ‘ol “race card.” As she said we are all entitled to our own opinions however, she is not agreeing to disagree, which would be the appropriate thing to say.

We have always stated that facts are important but even we know they can be manipulated according to what one wants to say or have people hear.  Anyone reading our letters can look up their own facts. We have even suggested it. Additionally, she quotes government statistics from the time of the previous administration which are questionable, at best.

What we do know for sure, this country was created by immigrants. Our own families came here as immigrants legally. An illegal immigrant is just that because they become a criminal the moment they set foot in this country. The terms are not interchangeable.

We have lived in other countries that would not allow people to be in their country illegally. We had to follow their laws the moment we set foot in their country. In fact, we had to start following their laws before we set foot in their country by having passports and visas. We have friends all over the world who would never come to this country illegally.

We are not racist, we have had friends of all nationalities in many parts of the world. When we hear the words racism or racist we feel that people using those words are the real racists and that they are angry and have no other way to explain their anger. Even against American citizens of any nationality.

With heavy heart we realize that more and more of our population have become under-informed.

Respectfully, 

Linda and Bob Graff

Powell