The Obama experience

Re “Is Obama the new ‘black’?” Current, Dec. 17

I like Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) not because he is a black American or a white American but because he is young and brilliant and has a fresh political direction. I like what he has to say and what he wants to do. I don’t like the lines being drawn by other African Americans about his “blackness” or that he does not share in the true African American experience. He is a “mixed bag.”

As Americans, we share a mixed bag of inherited ancestry. Many of us were enslaved in other parts of the world at different times in history. Many of us were enslaved in some way in America when we first arrived. As an American, living here in the 21st century, I find hope in this young senator from Illinois.

RAINE FORREST

Santa Monica

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Although we disagree philosophically in several respects, I see no reason why Obama’s relative lack of Washington experience should disqualify him from being considered a legitimate candidate for the presidency. By the time the new president is inaugurated in 2009, Obama will have served four years in the Senate in addition to his tenure as a state legislator. Many years ago, there was another man from Illinois who ran for the presidency despite a paucity of experience as a Washington insider -- only a single term in the House of Representatives -- and he didn’t turn out too badly. His name was Abraham Lincoln.

ALLEN E. KAHN

Playa del Rey