Ed Quillen’s take on South Carolina
Re: “Andrew Jackson’s big mistake,” April 2 Ed Quillen column.
As a native South Carolinian, I read Ed Quillen’s recent column on South Carolina with a mixture of amusement and sympathy.
I was amused, I admit, that he considers John Calhoun’s “elaborate arguments” responsible for the continuation of slavery, South Carolina solely responsible for the Civil War, Strom Thurmond a significant reason for the vileness of politics, and that three tiny local stories have become festering wounds infecting the entire nation.
I am, as I said, sympathetic to your situation. A word of advice: In the South, when one of our old-timers goes moonbat crazy and sits on the porch yelling insults at neighbors and strangers alike as they pass by, we do our best to keep their stress level low, we thank our friends for being understanding, and we ask forgiveness from strangers. What we don’t do is give them their own newspaper column.
R. Bruce Looney, Broomfield
Immigration, trade and labor policies
The Senate is working on an immigration bill that addresses a symptom of the problem, but not the cause. The government will spend huge amounts of money on a real or metaphorical wall. In about 10 to 15 years, they will then repeat this exercise. About 20 years ago, similar legislation was passed involving about 3 million Mexican workers. Now we are back to the same spot with a higher number of people involved.
Mexicans come to the U.S. in search of work, not for the freedoms we have lost and certainly not to enjoy our crumbling infrastructure. Our government should give industries incentives to outsource work to Mexico instead of to China. With ample work at home, Mexicans would stay in Mexico. The U.S. consumer would continue to win, and it would be cheaper for the taxpayer.
Whenever the federal government does anything, the cost is enormous and special “agencies of the government” like Halliburton benefit with no-bid contracts. The Senate and House need to wake up in this election year and work for the American people instead of themselves. You cannot push on a string, and that is exactly what this immigration bill is trying to do.
Ed D’Silva, Loveland
…
There have been many competing proposals on the table in the recent immigration reform discussions – some good, some not so good, but nothing comprehensive. In the discussions that I’m sure will continue, it’s critical to look at creating responsible and fair immigration reform that recognizes some of the root causes of immigration, which include global economic policies, U.S. trade policies and U.S. labor laws. If policymakers like Rep. Tom Tancredo continue to view immigration as an issue of harsh criminalization of immigrants without looking at equitable trade policies, fair compensation and acceptable working conditions for all, then fear and prejudice will prevail. Failed immigration policies have encouraged lower labor standards and conditions, and have done little to address the reasons for immigration.
Sarah Davidon Hoover, Indian Hills
“Blind Date” dance performance
Re: “Dazzling ‘Blind Date’ focuses more on questions than answers,” April 4 dance review.
Kyle MacMillan’s review of “Blind Date” ends with these words: “… there is a group of arts patrons in this city ready … for experimental, potentially controversial offerings of this kind.” My wife and I agree! We stayed for the post-event discussion with Bill T. Jones and the dancers and we were impressed with the number of persons who stayed, the quality of the questions and the intensity of the listening.
Of course “Blind Date” probed and pushed. As a clergyman, I was challenged by the text messages about religion. But sadly, many of the words about religion were true. The self-righteousness that we who are leaders in the church sometimes express seem to be oblivious to the less-than-positive roles religion has played.
Those few patrons who left before the show was over apparently are too thin-skinned to appreciate MacMillan’s comment that Jones “pricks the consciousness of his audiences.”
Rev. Gil Caldwell, Denver
Colorado’s state song
In this week of the Easter full moon and with the Rockies laden with spring snow, the words of our Colorado state song are especially fitting:
Where the snowy peaks gleam in the moonlight, above the dark forests of pine
And the wild foaming waters dash onward, towards lands where the tropic stars shine;
Where the scream of the bold mountain eagle, responds to the notes of the dove
Is the purple robed west, the land that is best, the pioneer land that we love.
Tis the land where the columbines grow,
Overlooking the plains far below,
While the cool summer breeze in the evergreen trees
Softly sings where the columbines grow.
That’s the name of the song: “Where the Columbines Grow.” The song was adopted in 1915 and I think it represents the state well. Learn it. Ask one of the local troubadours to play and sing it. And if you want to see how it compares to songs of most of the other 50 states, go to www.50states.com.
Oh, yeah, there are three verses, and the second one badly needs changing away from the wrong and repressive way things were presented in 1915.
William Hendrickson, Mancos
Public school funding
Re: “To improve DPS, follow the demand,” April 10 David Harsanyi column.
It never ceases to amaze me when free-market types call for “competition” in the public schools. Where are the resources to compete with? The problem is lack of funding, not lack of competition. Does David Harsanyi believe that the Denver Public Schools should pay monies to charter schools and further impoverish the district? Additionally, charter schools can operate on the cheap because they can pay teachers less than public schools.
Harsanyi is correct when he states, “Of course, there are plenty of superior public schools in Denver, and any student can apply to get into them. But they are usually in affluent neighborhoods and they have to take neighborhood schools first.” That is the crux of the problem. Let’s help all poor students by sharing the funding of affluent schools with poor schools. Let’s do something concrete about the funding disparity and level the playing field.
Isabel P. Posso, Lakewood
Learning the meanings of words
Re: “What’s wrong with it?” April 7 Open Forum.
Although I didn’t read the original April 2 Style story by Lisa Kennedy, I was surprised by letter-writer Hazel Bracewell’s reaction to it, particularly to the use of the word “kaffir.”
Not knowing what a word means, or never having heard of it, is not an excuse to think it’s perfectly fine to use it. And imagine this: Even if it’s not English, it could be another language! The word “kaf(f)ir” derives from Arabic, where it means infidel. In Apartheid South Africa, it was (and still is, sometimes) a word used by white people as an extremely brutal racial slur towards people of color, in a similar way the n-word was being used in this country. Imagine the outcry if I, not a native English speaker, used that same n-word to talk about black people, just because I happened to pick it up from street slang or rap lyrics.
And yes, “it’s just a name for a variety of lime,” used primarily in Thai cuisine under the name makrut or magrood, but it doesn’t hurt to be aware of its original meaning.
Dirk Sollie, Fort Collins
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