Letters: KC readers discuss the Chauvin verdict, Pompeo’s conduct and swimming safety

KC, take the lead

Like many, I breathed a sigh of relief when the verdict was read in the Derek Chauvin case. But would this verdict have been plausible if there had not been extensive video of the murder of George Floyd? I seriously doubt it.

This is a pivotal time when police reform has to occur. There are good officers in law enforcement, but past policies have shown racism to be prevalent.

I would like Kansas City to not just go along with other cities in regard to reform. Why can’t Kansas City set the bar in changing how police interact with the people? Let’s lead this fight.

- Kate Riha, Kansas City

Hitting home

I watched the 10-minute video that 17-year-old Darnella Frazier shot of Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck — heartbreaking. I ignored the trial out of fear that the outcome would follow the dissociative identity disorder pattern our legal system has experienced since the beginning.

Praise: It did not. Job done well. Black Lives Matter — celebrate your victory.

Born with white male privilege, I don’t know what it’s like being female or dark-skinned in this country. With two beautiful grandsons, I fear the outcome of the world we are leaving them. As a 17-year-old playing on the shores of the Aegean Sea, I would watch the tankers on the horizon and big blobs of oil washing ashore on white beaches. As Darnella said when she hit the record button, I also knew “it wasn’t right.”

Transitioning through another Earth Day, we’ve seen few victories to celebrate. We have science and knowledge, the pinnacle of human endeavors, yet we’re locked in tribal squabbles and ideological mythologies.

I am not talking about them. It is me and you. From our provincial lifestyles, we’re unable to appreciate our impact on the Big Blue Marble. We have our knee on Gaia’s neck, reaching the nine-minute mark.

- Scott Randolph, Kansas City

His own dime

Sunday’s story on former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, (9A, “Inspector general report points to misuse of staff by Pompeos”) reminds me of the story about Gen. George C. Marshall. While serving as Army chief of staff during World War II, at the end of his workday at the Pentagon, he was driven in an Army staff car toward his home in Virginia — but only to the district limits of Washington, D.C. There, he switched to his personal vehicle because he thought American taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for his choosing to live on rural acreage where he could keep horses.

- David Schwartz, Overland Park

Safe swimming

As warmer weather approaches, families will be turning to their pools and traveling to nearby lakes. Water safety is important for all ages, especially for younger children because drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death in children ages 1 to 4. Children in this age group can drown in as little as an inch of water.

Sixty-nine percent of all drownings occur during nonswim times in bathtubs, natural bodies of water, hot tubs or spas. Keep your young children safe around water by fencing off pools and keeping the fence locked, removing cosmetic water sources such as bird baths, fountains and ponds, and providing close and constant supervision by assigning a “water watcher” and using life vests near lakes and rivers.

Risk factors for older children and teens include overestimating their skills around friends, performing tricks, spending time in deeper waters and using substances. Drinking alcohol while swimming or boating is involved in roughly half of adolescent recreational water deaths. Teens around water must learn how to swim, be supervised, wear life jackets at all times and be sure everyone knows CPR and to dial 911 in emergency situations.

Visit healthychildren.org for more information on keeping kids safe this summer.

- Elizabeth Waldrop, Kansas City