In response to the letter written by Rogers K. James ("Shooting reminds that racism still lives," June 18):

He says he is an African-American. I guess that makes me a French-German-Hungarian-American. Well, no, I just want to be known as an American. I have no idea where in those countries my relatives came from, four generations ago. Where in Africa is Mr. James from?

He states that minorities are a "significant" part of the Armed Forces. I don't think that about 17 percent of blacks in the military is "significant" (see Studies in Defense Policy, Brookings Institution).

Mr. James seem to see a racial incident in the recent D.C. shooting at the Holocaust Museum. Strange, but most people saw a nut case who shot a guard who happened to be black. Mr. James says there is a racial "war" being waged in the United States? Another illusion of his? Maybe if he stopped trying to see everything as a racial incident, he would stop being part of the problem.

He should keep up his "empowered strive for excellence" -- he may even get there. Good luck to him.

John Gasko, Martinez