Minorities and the Republican Party

* Re “The ‘Party of Lincoln’ Has a Long Way to Go,” Commentary, Aug. 14: Reality check: Over the past three decades, the Democrat-controlled Congress has made no serious attempt to reform the nation’s welfare, health, taxation and spending programs. However, it did dedicate a lot of effort to turning the nation into a welfare state.

The failed 1992 health reform spearheaded by the first lady to nationalize the nation’s health care system is a true reflection on the Democrats’ intention to expand the role of the federal government. In her column, Donna Mungen charges that the current Republican Congress has adopted a more oppressive and punitive program toward ethnic minorities. There is no evidence of her charge.

It is true that the current 2-year-old Republican Congress has not cured all of the nation’s sicknesses; it nonetheless has put forth many innovative and worthwhile ideas, which include term limits on career politicians, balancing the budget, radical welfare reform and a tax cut. After three decades of Democratic status quo, the Republicans’ ideas deserve our support and a chance to be carried out.

JOHNNY NG

Westchester

* I agree with Mungen that most people are not convinced that the Republican Party is genuinely opening its tent to people of color. Colin Powell could expound on a philosophy of inclusion at the Republican convention only because he is Colin Powell--well-loved and respected by the general public.

Like him, I, too, am an immigrant and a person of color. But if I were to make the same speech defending affirmative action and a woman’s right to choose, I doubt if I could make it out of San Diego alive.

ERIC C. WAT

Los Angeles

* While I must wholeheartedly agree with Mungen’s commentary on the “party of Lincoln,” I must call attention to the assertion that “the leaders of the Democratic Party joined hands with the old Southern ruling class” to dis- enfranchise the former slaves. It was, indeed, the combination of the Republican Party, Republican President-elect Rutherford B. Hayes, and the evil-inspired compromise of 1877 that doomed the former slaves and their descendants to generations of political domination and economic exploitation.

Alas, history repeats.

MILLEDGE CULBRETH

Victorville