Equal opportunity and racism
To the Editor:
It is one thing to say all persons should be treated the same and have equal opportunity. It is quite a different thing to try to remove from the records the accomplishments of people of color such as Jackie Robinson. The first point should recognize that not all are of equal standing due to a handicap or the negative results of slavery. Discussion is appropriate about whether accommodations are needed to be fair. The second point references straight out, raging racism that must be rigorously condemned and opposed.
Donald Moeller
Professor Emeritus, St. Ambrose University
Davenport
Support our country’s highest ideals
To the Editor:
What is happening to the country we love and have been so proud of? I am deeply ashamed that our country has turned its back on Ukraine, a struggling democratic country fighting for survival against autocratic Russia.
I am deeply ashamed by the inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants taken as prisoners. Where has due process gone? Where is our respect for international law regarding the rights of refugees?
Why are we alienating Canada, our oldest and most trusted friend, ally and neighbor? Why are we allowing the dismantling of our Social Security system, the fund that our seniors paid into during their working years to secure their retirement? Our government is also looking at funding cuts that would cripple Medicare and Medicaid. All these “savings” fall on the backs of the poor and elderly as well as the entire middle class.
What kind of country are we becoming? What kind of country do we want to be? Do we truly want to be a country of equal justice under the law, a country of opportunity for all and compassion for the less privileged? A country of, by and for the people?
If so, then we, the citizens, need to stand up and speak out, to protest loudly and unceasingly against those actions that do not support our finest ideals: “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
Phyllis Morris, Clinton
