Letters to the Editor: American history can be sad but children should understand it.

Knowledge crucial

After visiting Montgomery, Alabama’s Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice, I want my children to understand it’s only been about 40 years since the last documented racial lynching (Michael Donald) took place in Mobile, Alabama. I want them to be aware of aversive racism; a term Robin DiAngelo defines as “enacting racism while still maintaining a positive self-image.” I don’t want them to be, as Jason Isbell says, “one of the guys who pretended not to hear another white man’s joke.” I want them to know that it’s not a coincidence that in the 245-year history of our country, we have had only one African American president. I want them to know that it is not a coincidence that neither of them have ever had an African American teacher. I want them to know that the systems that exist in our society are not and have never been completely equitable. I want them to have the knowledge, wisdom, and courage to remain conscious of this fact so that they can be part of the solution; not the problem. I want them to, as James Baldwin said, “believe what I say because they see what I do.”

Travis Marcum, Richmond

Diversity and unity

This letter is in response to prefiled bills in the Kentucky legislature that target the discussion of race in schools:

The issues raised by the proposed legislation (Bill Requests 60 and 69), particularly that of race, are concerning. For many generations, being taught United States History in this Commonwealth starts with the arrival of the original settlers, the engagement of the colonists with the native peoples of this soil, and the enslavement of African people. While the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission agrees an individual should not feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress based on one’s race, the absence of a factual, earnest, and contextual history resulting in some of these unintended consequences is exactly what has been occurring for generations. The Kentucky African American Heritage Commission stands to preserve, protect, and celebrate the authentic and true history of people of African descent in this Commonwealth in a way that supports inquiry and the free exchange of ideas as well as honors diversity while uniting us all.

Angela Crenshaw, chair of the Kentucky African American Heritage Commission, Frankfort

‘Pride is deep’

Addressing Meghan McCain’s reaction on “The View” to Gwen Berry’s turning her back on the American flag, I say, there is nothing in my white America that stirs any need to protest. My ancestral inheritance consists of the well worn adage, “America is the land where success comes from hard work.” Both Meghan and I have benefited in various ways from our parents’ and grandparents’ hard work. Gwen’s ancestors worked exponentially harder than both Megan’s and mine combined. Her inheritance went exclusively to the Southern plantation owners. By the end of the Civil War, slave labor enabled the Mississippi River Valley to have more millionaires per capita than any other region in the nation. Meghan McCain, do not think that Black America isn’t proud to be American. Their America is not easy to live in. But if you looked closer you would see their pride is as deep and their contributions as rich as any. From the Olympic platform, the world will see that we don’t censor, jail, or kill our protesters. Even if Meghan McCain can’t stomach anyone turning their back on a flag that has done them no favors, they still have the freedom to do so.

Richard James Haley, Lexington

No-knock fallacy

The Lexington Fraternal Order of Police says that banning no-knock warrants is unsafe for police. Really, maybe what they mean is that citizens don’t have a right to protect themselves during break-ins. People do have the right to shoot first and ask questions later.

It’s an assumption that police will announce themselves and will be clearly heard. Someone who’s asleep in a remote part of their house or hard of hearing may only hear crashing and indistinct voices. Anyone who’s capable of breaking into a home is capable of shouting “Police” whether they are police or criminals.

Are people supposed to make sure who’s there first? By the time they wake up, turn on lights and identify their attacker, they could be dead, whether it’s the police or not. And if they’ve already fired at the dark figures yelling incoherently in their home, it may be too late for an officer, as well.

So who’s safe?

Even without no-knock warrants, the police may still break in if they perceive an imminent threat. Do they really need to put themselves and others at risk? Keep in mind that police have broken into the wrong home and the innocent have been injured or killed as a result.

Glenna Brouse, Lexington

Project bids

There is so much to disagree with in think tanker Andrew McNeill’s recent op-ed that it is difficult to limit myself to one item but let’s talk about the single bid contracts. That seems to be a think tank favorite because they have covered it more than once in the Lane Report this year. Estimating the cost of a construction project is not an exact science — if it were, multiple contractors would bid the same amount on a project. A bid consists of five elements — the cost of materials, labor, equipment, overhead, and profit — and no two companies will have the same numbers nor will the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. So, there must be some leeway in the numbers. Do you award a project bid that is 3% over the cabinet’s estimate, or maybe 5% or what is the number? There are 50 transportation departments/cabinets in this country and an equal number of guidelines on handling single bid projects. It will be interesting to see the think tank’s opinion of a single bid project in the June 25 letting — the single bidder is 20% below the cabinet’s estimate for a multimillion dollar contract. Do you pay more?

J.M. Yowell, Bowling Green

Choose by merit

Commentator Ramesh Ponnuru doesn’t think term limits for Supreme Court justices would remedy what he calls “a peculiar feature” of our Constitution, the rules governing SCOTUS appointments.

So here’s another idea: How about basing the appointments on merit? Yes, it might take a constitutional amendment; but the justices would be the finest — and fairest — in America.

It should not be difficult to determine who those people are. An objective criterion could be created, based on the usual resume material (education, experience, achievements, honors), plus standing as judged by the bar and a large group of scholars in law, ethics, history, and political philosophy (again, objectively selected, perhaps by consensus in their disciplines). A ranked list would be made, and the first person on it would be offered the next vacancy.

Of course we might still get biased or incompetent justices, but the system would eliminate the absurdity of a court to which members can be appointed without ever having adjudicated so much as a baby contest and in which members are tolerated who are so obviously partisan that their opinions are routinely predicted. Was there anyone in America who didn’t know how Bush vs. Gore was going to turn out?

Lela Stromenger, Lexington

Communion politics

In her recent column, Karen Tumulty claims that U.S. Catholic bishops would be politicizing Holy Communion if they were to advise priests to withhold it from politicians who advocate for abortion. I contend that Tumulty herself is politicizing communion by telling the leaders of a religious body that they should not uphold their own teachings because doing so might politically damage politicians such as Joe Biden. The Catholic Church teaches in its Catechism that abortion is an “intrinsically evil act” that is “always immoral,” and in recent years, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI wrote that it is impossible for Catholics to promote or vote for any law that attacks human life. The Catechism also states that anyone partaking of communion while engaging in unconfessed grave sin (which includes advancing policies allowing abortion) invites God’s judgment, so in withholding communion from such a politician, the priest is not interfering in politics, but is fulfilling his responsibility of protecting that person from the wrath of God. Tumulty seems unable to view even her own Catholic faith through anything but a political lens instead of the spiritual lens that matters of life and eternal salvation require.

Stephanie Mason, Danville

Popular vote

Most Americans believe every vote should be equal, the candidate with the most votes should win, and that candidates should have to solicit votes everywhere in the country.

I am sick and tired of Kentucky not being a so-called “battleground state.”

It’s way past time for this nation to have a national popular vote!

David Saladino, Berea

Follow own advice

Sen. Mitch McConnell, self-described “Grim Reaper”, got his start in a household funded by funerals. As Senate minority leader he has called House Resolution 1 and Senate 1 “power grab” bills.

He’s right but not for the reason he embraces. The bills are “For the People” and the bills seek to put power where it belongs, with the electorate. Everything in those bills is designed to make it perfectly clear to elected people that the power is not just to be exercised by the people on the second Tuesday of November but rather year round.

If elected officials used the privilege of serving the people by actually serving the people the bills might not be necessary; however, it is because of the gross abuse of power by most elected people that it has become necessary to pass legislation to hold elected officials fully accountable to the people year round.

Former majority leaders should sit down and “keep their mouth shut”, after all, isn’t that what McConnell said about former presidents?

Jamie Kirven, Louisville

Vote them out

Once upon a time (1974-1998), I lived in Kentucky — mostly in Lexington. During the Reagan years, I was proud of supporting Sen. Mitch McConnell, who seemed so interested in Bluegrass Indo-Americans. I am so now so disappointed in his “no” to everything without any distinctions to what is good for America. Our second senator, a physician by training, knows so little about the current status of COVID-19 that he would have failed a course in medical school or more likely lose his medical license if I were in his shoes. What bothers me the most is that the people of Kentucky know better yet can’t stop voting for them and stop their incompetence. Please recall both of them — sooner the better — and let our voices be heard.

Kirit T. Patel, Tampa, Florida