Exclusion is not justice
Re: “Pride celebrations must not exclude queer Jews,” by Neil G. Thomas, June 1 Opinion.
Thomas reminds me of the post-World War II words of Martin Niemoller, a German Lutheran pastor, who expressed his guilt for not speaking out against the Nazis while they repeatedly persecuted various segments of his community.
There are many versions, but they all start similarly with, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist” and end with, “Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”
Kudos to Thomas for pointing out that “justice doesn’t come at the expense of including. It demands it.” Though Thomas’ words are directed at the LGBTQ community to not exclude Jews from Pride celebrations, they should also serve as an onishment to all of us in the human community: To exclude is not justice; it is discrimination.
Raymond J. Termini, Dallas/Turtle Creek
Drug cost failures
Re: “Don’t tie drug costs to foreign prices,” by Michael C. Burgess, May 29 Opinion.
Bravo for calling out the failings of President Donald Trump’s executive order related to drug prices. As Burgess notes, the president’s photo op with Dr. Mehmet Oz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. does nothing to address steep markups and the rebates collected by benefit managers.
This is just another example of the president’s grandstanding while Congress continues to fail its legislative responsibilities. Meanwhile, I wait for Burgess’ congressional replacement, Brandon Gill, to do anything other than polish the president’s shoes.
James Francis, Carrollton
Visions for southern Dallas
Re: “Southern Dallas needs a new strategy,” by James Armstrong, May 13 Opinion.
This essay rightly calls for a unified vision for southern Dallas. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas couldn’t agree more. That’s why we launched Southern Dallas Thrives, a collaborative initiative designed to drive long-term impact.
In partnership with PepsiCo and the PepsiCo Foundation and a coalition of civic and corporate leaders, Southern Dallas Thrives invests in place-based impact for education, income and health. Since inception, the initiative has amplified small businesses, improved health outcomes, provided direct economic growth opportunities for families and expanded educational opportunities in high-need neighborhoods.
This is about collective impact — local leaders, corporations, nonprofits and residents — not for them, but with them.
The work at RedBird is proof that aligned stakeholders can redefine a neighborhood’s future. Let’s not wait for unity to happen at City Hall. It’s already happening on the ground. We invite all leaders, businesses and residents to us.
Jennifer Sampson, president and CEO, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
Worrying about the wrong things
I saw Rahm Emanuel, former U.S. ambassador to Japan, on a TV show recently. He made a good point about our public school system. Too many folks are worried about what books are in the school, the names of the schools, religious signs in schools and which bathrooms to use. If we are willing to accept mediocrity in education, those things are fine.
But we are not competing with China if those are our concerns rather than providing a sound education. I believe this to be true.
Jodi Slabaugh, Denton
Welcoming of white South Africans
Re: “Trump’s welcome of white South Africans is racial hypocrisy,” by Peter Johnson, May 24 Opinion.
Finally, a well-written voice of reason over hypocrisy. I thought I was the only one ing apartheid and the civil rights movement in the U.S. Whites never have suffered bigotry in South Africa, and to announce that they do is an insult to people of color globally.
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah bluntly places racism and bigotry in the heart of South Africa. The book should be a must-read for middle and high school students.
I am personally insulted by these actions of the current istration.
Cynthia Sharp, Irving
Legislators, butt out
Re: “Get the facts on EPIC City” and “Gender data bill es,” May 25 Metro stories.
All too often, headlines are about people attacking a minority demographic in our society for no other reason than they like to bully people, and their ers like to read stories about their success at bullying people. Instead of hypothetical problems about a planned Muslim-centric neighborhood, how about revealing actual evidence of wrong-doing?
Apparently, none exists. If there are potential problems, let the local zoning and city planners deal with it. Keep Austin out of local decision-making.
And the gender bill is nothing but a horrendous attack on our trans citizens. No one cares what their gender was at birth. Only right-wing legislatures have an obsession with people’s genitalia and how people go to the bathroom. Forcing our trans community to reveal their birth sex will put them in danger from others who believe the fearmongering from the GOP.
How about making government smaller by keeping Republican legislators out of our community decisions and out of our private lives?
Mark Bauer, Haslet
Ignoring antisemitism
Re: “This is what ‘globalize the intifada’ looks like,” by Joel Schwitzer, June 2 Opinion.
Schwitzer wrote of the murder of the young Jewish couple in Washington, D.C., in May. We have now learned of the attempted fire bombing of a peaceful group of Jews in Boulder, Colo., last week. Schwitzer’s essay stopped short of a dire warning of which I am reminded. Winston Churchill warned the world as the Soviet Union’s Iron Curtain descended that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.
In the early 1930s, many political leaders in Europe and in the U.S. ignored Adolf Hitler’s outspoken antisemitism. By 1938, it became very clear in Poland and , and by 1940, Europe and East Asia were aflame.
Today there is no place for an international intifada against the Jews or any other minority populations unless you seek international destruction. The leaders of Western democracies must assert moral leadership to halt such terror by any means.
Marvin J. Noble, North Dallas