Is Dick Lamm playing cultural blame game?
Re: “Lamm should be above cultural blame game,” Aug. 1 Cindy Rodríguez column.
Kudos to Post columnist Cindy Rodríguez for taking Dick Lamm to task for his book “Two Wands, One Nation.” Rodríguez calls it controversial. I call it bigotry. I am sick to death of this hateful rhetoric coming from Lamm, Tom Tancredo and others of their xenophobic ilk. In my 24 years as a Colorado resident, I have found my neighbors and work colleagues to be cordial and compassionate folks. Yet, starting with the anti-gay Amendment 2 in 1992, then the English-only movement in the late-1990s and now the anti-immigrant hysteria of today, I find myself embarrassed to be a Coloradan. I am particularly ashamed of my friends in the state legislature who caved in to Gov. Bill Owens’ drive for the new immigration law (read: anti-immigrant law); and even worse, lawmakers bragging that it is the toughest in the nation. Shame on them for enabling right-wing bullies to further isolate hard-working, law-abiding Hispanics who provide invaluable labor and culture in our state. Especially galling is the provision that denies in-state tuition to bright, ambitious Hispanic kids who have lived most of their lives in Colorado. We should be providing opportunities, not excluding them from higher education. In my vocabulary, “amnesty” is not a dirty word; rather, it is continuing the American tradition of hospitality.
Rex Stephenson, Denver
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So, Dick Lamm shouldn’t be about the blame game? I don’t think he’s blaming anyone. He is simply pointing out that people (insert any color) are not getting as much out of this society as they are capable of getting. Cindy Rodríguez blaming the Dick Lamms for her self-destruction and dropping out of high school is ridiculous. I find it hard to believe that the Dick Lamms of Cindy’s day were the reason for her destruction and C’s in high school.
Either way, everyone needs to stop blaming. We live in a country that gives you the opportunity to succeed, but you still have to work at it. Seems to me people in today’s society have gone soft. The opportunity is there, but when the opportunity isn’t just handed to them, it must be someone else’s fault. I’m not saying there aren’t barriers that make it rough for a lot of people in our society, but I just do not see those barriers as so great that hard work and determination can’t overcome them.
Ryan Dotson, Denver
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Former Gov. Dick Lamm is a man who has the intelligence and experience to understand statistics, and these statistics are very clear about which minority groups are academic achievers and which are not. The time has come for members of the black and Hispanic communities to stop blaming everyone else for the failure of their children in school. It is time for them to step forward, stop making excuses for the problem and figure out what it will take to turn this around. Why is it a racist statement if someone like Lamm points out facts that are a part of the public record?
I tried twice to mentor two minority girls at East High School and both quit in the ninth grade. Both had zero support at home (I had to call one of them to wake her up for school each day, although her mother was at home), and neither placed any value on education. Could this be what Lamm is referring to?
Joan Jones, Denver
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Re: “Minorities must look inward,” Aug. 2 Richard D. Lamm column.
Dick Lamm is correct that discrimination has little connection with personal ambition, but fails to recognize the role economics play in providing opportunities. Past bigotry did create some of our current problems. Low wages without health benefits, inequity in school funding and the high cost of living in Colorado exacerbate them. Minorities are not asking for handouts or looking to assign blame, but the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” approach fails in communities where individuals cannot afford bootstraps, let alone find a shoe store. Lumping minority groups in generalized categories ignores individual experiences.
If we accept Lamm’s broad definitions, we could argue that Manual High School failed because parents and students did not want to achieve to a sufficient degree. That would ignore systemic problems at DPS and societal challenges over which those people had no control. It’s simple: No parent wants to see his child fail and no child wants to repeat his parent’s failures.
Lamm’s last question – “How do we put it right?” – is correct by emphasizing the communal “we,” but will Lamm and others of his ilk be a part of that community?
John Schuttler, Greeley
Utility’s support for global-warming critic
Re: “Utility raises $150,000 for global-warming critic,” July 30 news story.
I’ve been an Intermountain Rural Electric Association customer since 1975. My family flourished under the lights powered by the member-owned cooperative. But now the company is sabotaging the future of my family by siding with the fossil-fuel dinosaurs and refusing to move toward clean, modern and renewable energy.
We don’t need to fund research on climate change anymore. So- called scientists such as Pat Michaels have connections to Exxon Mobil-funded groups. The hot weather, the melting ice caps and consensus of real, unbiased scientists are proof that the debate is over.
As an IREA member, I have benefited from the annual capital credit refund, putting about $30 back in my purse. As far as I know, I don’t have any other choice on where to buy my energy. I guess I’ll have to donate my refund to a pro-renewable energy campaign to defeat IREA’s backwards position.
Susan L. Bohnet, Morrison
DUIs and mass transit
Re: “DUI checkpoints and fear of stricter laws,” Aug. 2 Open Forum.
Letter-writer Jerry Sullivan wrote that driving is a privilege and not a right, which to a point is true. He also wrote that some European nations have a 0.00 BAC limit and people there have no fear of checkpoints. But what he seems to forget is that Europe has fantastic public transportation. In fact, there is little fear of a checkpoint because a smaller percentage of the population actually drives.
But here in America, where people in some states constantly shoot down the light rail or refuse to vote to expand our bus system, your driving is not a privilege but a necessity – for everything. I live nine blocks from the nearest grocery store, and no buses travel there from my home; I need my car. It’s not a right but a necessity.
So yes, I’m in fear of checkpoints because the cops are looking to make their time worth it and will find anything – anything – to nail you on.
If you want to reduce the DUIs in this state, then eliminate the need for the “D” in “DUI.”
Paul Brunner, Lakewood
Football 101 for women
Re: “Recruiting effort earns three sneers,” July 30 Diane Carman column.
Diane Carman correctly pointed out that the University of Colorado is experiencing financial challenges in its athletic department. But at least the university is trying to come up with some innovative ideas (e.g., “Football 101 for Women”) to improve the situation and move forward in a more positive direction. But no, rather than encourage their efforts, CU athletic haters like Carman take the opportunity for more sarcastic, cheap shots and regurgitate the past problems the university is striving to rectify. It is despicable to stomp on those who are down, especially when they’re trying to get up.
Rick Kearney, Colorado Springs
Overheated on United
Re: “Passengers broil, boil in sweltering jet,” Aug. 2 news story.
Denver Post reporter Jeffrey Leib’s experience on the sweltering jet is yet another example of United’s lack of concern for its customers and employees. Whenever I fly United (and I don’t if other options exist), it’s not a question of “Will they screw up this flight?” – it’s “How badly will they screw it up?”
Wayne Tutzauer, Denver
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