ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS (“Mr. Righteous,” 2/10) is truly extraordinary. As a black man growing up in the rural South during the civil rights era, he did not experience the trials other blacks did, but was incubated (as he himself described) and protected from discrimination and poverty by his land-owning middle-class parents. So how can he purport to speak for other blacks who have had to deal with both?

It is not only your skin color, Mr. Williams, but your experiences and opportunities that affect your success in life. Any obstacles you may have encountered were smoothed over by your parents as they gave you a leg up by sending you to school and getting you an apartment in D.C. to start your career. How can you lecture to those who need a leg up from the government when they have had plenty more obstacles to face than you and probably none of the opportunities?

Eastern Market, via the Internet