To the Editor:

Re “Joe Biden Is Problematic,” by Charles M. Blow (column, Sept. 16 ):

Let me get this straight. Mr. Blow, your take is to disregard Joe Biden’s actions over nearly five decades of public life, and to focus instead on comments, taken out of any historical context, made decades ago, to attack his views on race. You claim you bear Mr. Biden no ill will , yet you deny him the right to change or evolve. That is not fair or decent, and ignores a good man who has committed his life to racial justice.

Reparations are a difficult, emotional issue, and ultimately a distraction from the public policies that can have a direct impact on the lives of anyone who has suffered from discrimination, or who continues to suffer.

Mr. Biden’s support among people of color is no accident. It runs deep. I can only wish that his sensitivity and understanding were typical of his generation.

I have known Joe Biden for most of his years in public service. I worked for his son Beau as a deputy attorney general. I don’t always agree with Joe on the issues (I am more of the Sanders/Warren persuasion), but I won’t tolerate character assassination in the guise of journalism. If you have policy differences with Mr. Biden, then out with it. Don’t hide behind selective quotations.