Letters: KC readers discuss Chiefs’ name, toasting Trump and moving beyond parties

Time to change

I agree with the Cleveland Major League Baseball and Washington NFL teams changing their names out of sensitivity to the Native American community. Should not the Kansas City Chiefs be required to change their name?

- Walter Boris, Charlotte, North Carolina

Libraries adapt

Recently, the world has gone through so much rapid change, and to adjust, libraries have had to change the services they provide.

Traveling to southeast Kansas libraries, I’m amazed how creative and dedicated libraries are in helping their patrons through these strange times. One of the biggest changes has obviously been fewer face-to-face interactions.

Zoom has replaced in-person meetings and activities. This has been a blessing education-wise but also has created isolation. Changing how we receive or learn information can make us insecure, and many get confused and frustrated with Zooming.

The good news is the more you do something, the more comfortable you are likely to become with it. When some confess they find communicating via Zoom a concern, I admit that I feel the same way. Everyone to some degree is facing it, and nobody should feel that they are in this alone.

Libraries will continue to move forward and find ways to help communities with outreach and services in whatever form. Positive change might be slower than we want, but remember that humans are great at adapting because of our shared values and a hopefulness for the future.

- Eric Green, Iola, Kansas

What to ‘toast’?

Please, “toast” Donald J. Trump for his good work with respect to the coronavirus? (Letters, May 18, 9A) Let’s remember that this is the same Trump who told Bob Woodward in February 2020 that he knew the coronavirus is airborne and very contagious, all the while telling the American public that everything was “under control.”

Also, we can thank Trump for his expert advice on the possible treatments of hydroxychloroquine, “injection inside” of disinfectants and if “you brought the light inside the body.”

By intentionally ignoring the scope of the situation for political purposes, Trump cost tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of American lives.

By all means, let’s toast Donald J. Trump — in the hope he may never again be in a position of power.

- Victor C. Hanick, Estes Park, Colorado

Beyond parties

I am a sophomore in high school. Recently, one of the books I picked up for my civics class was titled “Are You Liberal? Conservative? Or Confused?” Uh, yes, I am.

Why do we have to be liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican? There is value and weakness on both sides. The biggest weakness is that both sides just seem to fight each other and not move forward. Nothing gets done — just fighting.

In everyday life, we are told not to see race or gender or religion as a dividing line. But the political leaders of our country live by the hard line of Democrat-Republican.

I think we should get rid of the party and the party lines and vote for people as people, not as parties. Politicians should lead us in getting rid of segregation lines by getting rid of the Democratic and Republican parties and be united like our country’s name: the United States of America.

- Zoe Schimpf, Kansas City

Silent, threatened

We are invisible. You may not see us. We are patients who are immunosuppressed. And people who choose not to get vaccinated put others who are dealing with chronic disease or illness at risk.

As a caregiver, I worry every time my husband (who is vaccinated) goes into the public, knowing that his immune system is compromised. I have a friend with a daughter who has a rare disease. She worries every time she opens the door of her retail business to shoppers.

You can’t see us, but we exist. And we need your help. Please get vaccinated.

- Kristin Wing, Leawood