Letter: National GOP making wrong moves

As the celebration continues of the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington, Republicans should not squander a great tradition ["Task not done, marchers say," News, Aug. 25]. On Saturday, it was inspiring as one speaker after another talked about how far we've come yet how far we still have to go. I did not see one Republican speaker there of note.

Republicans Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt sponsored civil rights legislation, and Dwight Eisenhower used federal power to desegregate Southern schools. And every Republican in the Senate but two voted for the original 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Now, Republicans in either house are reluctant to vote for any civil rights legislation, not because the party itself is racist, but because its appeal is to the farthest right element, and they cannot afford to offend. Yet this country moves closer and closer to one where the minorities are the majority. This is a prescription for Republicans' political suicide.

Now, the Republican National Committee says it may boycott NBC and CNN, as too liberal, to air the 2016 presidential debates. Brilliant move. Let's preach to the choir on FOX. By 2020 and beyond, Republicans will be no more than a regional party, unable to compete nationally.

Bill Bernstein, Dix Hills

Editor's note: The writer is a former professor of political science and government for the State University of New York.