In Response to: Learning History

My classmate Walter Weber ’81 (Inbox, Jan. 9) is senior counsel for the American Council of Law and Justice (ACLJ), an extreme-right organization founded by Pat Robertson. Jay Sekulow, one of President Trump’s legal advisers, is chief counsel for the ACLJ. Mr. Sekulow has amassed great wealth in connection with the ACLJ and its related charities as reported in The Washington Post and The Guardian.

One could argue that it, too, is a “scam organization.” While casting stones at the Democrats, Mr. Weber conveniently omits that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was championed by a Democrat, President Lyndon Johnson.

Mr. Weber is well-known for his opposition to reproductive freedom. The ACLJ has supported anti-LGBT laws and penalizing homosexuality by death in African countries.

Arguing that the Democrats of today are the same as the ones 55 years ago is disingenuous. Almost no one would recognize today’s Republicans as the party of Lincoln, as evidenced by its efforts toward voter suppression and disenfranchisement of poor and minority voters.

On one point, I completely agree with Mr. Weber: The Democratic Party does have its skeletons in the closet, with one corollary: So do the Republicans.

Kabir Mahadeva ’81
Ponte Vedra, Fla.