“Cowardly”: We must oppose Fresno County Board of Supervisors’ book banning efforts | Opinion

Book banning in Fresno?

“Young people need to learn critical thinking, not book bans,” (fresnobee.com, April 23)

“I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” -Voltaire

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors is having a meeting on Nov. 7 during which the supervisors will discuss the possibility of establishing a literary oversight committee. As a Fresno resident, I am totally against this. There is no inappropriate content being placed in children’s sections in any public library.

Instead, the idea of “sexual perversion in children’s content” is widely used by anti-LGBT groups as a means to justify banning completely innocent books such as “My Shadow Is Purple” and “And Tango Makes Three” from children’s hands simply because of the implication of LGBTQ+ themes in non-sexualized contexts.

Additionally, educational books like “The Care and Keeping of You” often end up banned because of the child-friendly anatomical descriptions contained therein, regardless of the pivotal role such books can have on personal health, hygiene and making kids feel comfortable in their skin.

Book bannings and burnings are a calling card of big, free-speech-hating government. Despite being couched behind cowardly legalese, establishing literary oversight committees is inherently an act of book banning.

Sophia Esther Heinrichs

Fresno

Calling out ‘lazy’ parents

“Young people need to learn critical thinking, not book bans,” (fresnobee.com, April 23)

The nationwide trend of attacking public libraries and banning books has, alarmingly, wormed its way into our community. Incensed parents have taken issue with certain children’s books they feel are “too mature” and are now doing everything within their power to have them removed from local library shelves.

An example of one of these books is an inclusive sex education publication meant for pubescent children aged 10 and up. In fact, it’s a book that many homeschooling parents use to teach sex education. This book is one of many on the subject, but because it contains accurate and applicable information for LGTBQ+ people, along with cartoon depictions of the human body, these parents have labeled it inappropriate.

“Inappropriate for whom?” I ask. My child? Thanks, but my husband and I can determine that on our own. It is our responsibility, just as it is theirs, to preview the library material our child checks out. It is not the responsibility of the public library system to censor which children’s books they have access to. To ask public libraries to do a parent’s job for them is nothing short of lazy and irresponsible parenting.

Elizabeth McFarlin

Fresno

Opinion

Israel’s right to exist

“Diplomacy to pause fighting and ease siege intensifies as Israeli ground troops advance on Gaza City,” (fresnobee.com, Nov. 1)

I’ve read with sadness and dismay the reaction to Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israelis: the murders, rapes, beheadings and outright butcheries. Yet, many, including student organizations, the news media and now the United Nations Secretary-General, hold the opinion that Israel had it coming. They say the current conflict requires “context.” But there is no context for what Hamas did. It was completely immoral and evil.

For those who want context, here it is: Hamas’ charter explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the elimination of the Jewish people. They don’t want peace; they want Israel extinguished. Israel’s efforts to defend itself against another liquidation are belittled and denounced, and Jews throughout the world live in uncertainty.

Everyone who has condoned Hamas’ attacks needs to realize that Israel has a right to exist, and its people have a right to live in peace, free of Hamas and all other terrorist threats.

Larry Parmeter

Fresno

Talking heads miss point

“Donald Trump promises to rescue California from ‘leftists’,” (fresnobee.com, Sept. 29)

MSNBC programming, along with Fox and CNN, are disappointing. The host talking heads refuse to address what Donald Trump is existentially about. The political reality is totally left out.

Our nation is being attacked internally on a daily basis.

At this moment in American history, Trump is the vessel which some Americans are worshiping — hoping to establish, for them, a new America. The goal of these people is a purely white America. And that’s what the news media needs to address on a daily basis.

But our talking heads ignore this reality. To reach this goal, Trump is attempting to destroy democracy along with the Constitution and the bureaucracy he contends is the deep state.

Jesus Humberto Sanchez Barroso

Fresno

Missing football coverage

“Fresno State Bulldogs Sports News & Videos,” (fresnobee.com)

I’ve lived and worked in Fresno and Clovis most of my 74 years. I retired and moved to Idaho five years ago. I subscribe to The Bee, plus the McClatchy counterpart the Idaho Statesman in Boise. Speaking on behalf of a long list of Bulldog fans, each of us are fed up with the lack of timely weekly coverage of the Bulldogs football, plus zero next day high school coverage. This past week, there were no articles on the upcoming big game against 6-1 Nevada-Las Vegas.

In contrast, the Idaho Statesman prints daily front-page articles about the Boise State Broncos, plus excellent Saturday morning articles on high school football scores.

Maybe The Bee feels that local sports are not as important to your readership as other news stories, but I can assure you that you’re turning off your readership. You used to have excellent next day high school sports coverage back in the ’90s. Now, the coverage comes out two or three days later.

But why the lack of Bulldog coverage? Isn’t this our Valley team?

Jack Oberti

McCall, Idaho

Support Playland

“Without help, Fresno’s Playland park is months away from closing again, operator says,” (fresnobee.com, Oct. 20)

For years, Playland invested in improving Fresno. Now, it’s time for Fresno to invest back into Playland.

After Playland opened in the ’50s, the Rotary Club operated it for decades, investing human and financial capital into this regional gem. In that time of low-cost labor and lower liability, Playland invested millions of dollars into other projects around Fresno, including the construction of Shinzen Garden at Woodward Park. Undoubtedly, Rotary’s longtime investments buttressed Playland’s success.

The costs of doing business are now quite different. Playland is struggling under costs it was never designed to bear. But that doesn’t diminish its value. Playland offers a clean, magical experience for kids. It is replete with joyous memories for multiple generations, and is especially precious to families who cannot afford the steep cost of a trip to Disneyland.

Fresno residents should not abandon Playland. It needs our reinvestment. Nearly 20 years ago, we saved our decaying zoo. Five years ago, voters approved Measure P to invest in our parks. Today, Martin Park is building recreation space in the Webster neighborhood. We are a community that finds solutions.

We can find a solution to keep Playland operating for generations to come.

Charity S. Whitney

Fresno