Race should not factor into representation on board

Your editorial opined "Election by council district makes a lot of sense, and should go a long way toward making the board more diverse in its racial and ethnic makeup. While no Howard council district has a 'minority majority,' at least two of them can claim significant minority populations."

Please inform your readers what the "right" makeup is for a board to improve its "racial and ethnic makeup." Please explain how melanin, skin pigment or ethnicity makes one qualified to represent another person with a similar genetic code. Do all (fill in the blank here with your desired racial or ethic group) think alike?

What happens to the interests of those to be represented by these "correct" racial and ethic group members who are not of the same race or group? Will they be as poorly represented as these minorities claim to be now? Will Howard County determine race or ethnic group with Apartheid-type laws? Does having one grandparent, as Homer Plessy did in the famous Supreme Court case making separate-but-equal the law of the land, make one qualified, in your view, to be a minority/ethnic member of the board?

How disparaging to all.

Douglas Dribben

Woodstock