Racial Issues Remain Study in Inconsistency

Your editorial regarding Glendale’s new human relations panel (“African American Representation,” Oct. 9) continues to reinforce two major problem issues in the area of race relations:

1. That blacks are the minority group with “the longest and bitterest memories of its past.” What about the Asian immigrants to this country? The Native Americans?

2. The continued use of term “African Americans,” which sets blacks apart like no other label could. The article mentions Filipinos, Koreans, Armenians and Latinos while using no qualifying adjectives such as Armenian-American. It is understood that these groups are Americans.

In the interest of consistency, it seems that we should refer to whites, blacks, asians and so on in lower case or double up for every group in upper case as in Korean-American, African-American, Lithuanian-American and Anglo-American to name but a few.

JAMES GARDNER

Los Angeles

* The mayor of Glendale professes to have been seeking one or two black people to sit on the task force on human relations but has not been successful. I believe her. Since Glendale’s black population is less than 2%, could it be possible that there is no one willing to serve or qualified to serve?

WARREN F. JONES

Glendale