Letters: If talking about racial problems makes you uncomfortable, it should

Letters to the Editor
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What about the constitution?

It is frustrating to watch members of the Ohio General Assembly throw their pocket constitutions in the air as they propose radical legislation and squabble with each other.

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Any member of the General Assembly who says they support and follow the Ohio Constitution should be a big voice for funding our schools properly.

They should be proposing legislation that doesn’t violate the one subject rule, set forth by the constitution.

They should support new legislative district maps that pass constitutional muster as opposed to the unconstitutional ones they were elected under.

They should support a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, not government bans that threaten their health. All of those ideas are constitutional.

Too much of what is coming out of the General Assembly nowadays is not.

Michael Stinziano, Franklin County Auditor, Columbus

Maybe you should be uncomfortable

Xiaoan Zhang holds up an American flag at a rally protesting Texas Senate bill 147 at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 29, 2023 in Austin. "I was a green card holder until two days ago. I feel like if they want to fight foreign land ownership, they should ban all foreign ownership. This targets specific countries," Zhang said.
Xiaoan Zhang holds up an American flag at a rally protesting Texas Senate bill 147 at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 29, 2023 in Austin. "I was a green card holder until two days ago. I feel like if they want to fight foreign land ownership, they should ban all foreign ownership. This targets specific countries," Zhang said.

David Hoffman’s Jan. 27 column "Anti-CRT hysteria turned Dr. Suess into a bogeyman" and the Jan. 25 letter "Conservatives make case for critical race theory" both dispel erroneous arguments against critical race theory as well as defend its truth and value.

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The greatest error our “Founding Fathers” made when establishing our country was the ironic affirmation that “…all men are created equal…” while at the same time allowing for slavery to continue.

And, while the Constitution was amended to eliminate slavery after the Civil War ended, political effort during “reconstruction” fought to disenfranchise newly freed former slaves and to discriminate against them in ways that unfortunately still exist today in our society.

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It has often been said that, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” And, our Republican/conservative political leaders, with their “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” efforts to ban the discussion of slavery and discrimination in our schools are severely trying to handicap our youth’s ability to handle the whole truth of our history and to promote a more just and fair society.

If discussion of racial problems in our country makes one uncomfortable, it should. Not necessarily out of guilt, but out of outrage that it had occurred and still occurs to this day.

Our former president has famously used the mantra ‘make America great again” as the war cry of his political efforts.

Instead, why not drop the “again” with the knowledge that the past was not so great for many; and, that our goal should be to “make America great” for everyone.

Joe Barmess, Pataskala

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Rights must come with awareness

I respond to John Reinier Sr.’s letter regarding the immorality of the emphasis on personal freedom.

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In all the strident talk about personal freedom and “my rights," there are a number of concepts that are glaringly absent from the conversation: consequences, community, responsibility, duty and obligation.

Without seeing ourselves as being a part of a larger community that sustains us, and that our acts and choices have impacts on this community, then we cannot even begin to call ourselves a moral society.

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One of the most blatant, shameful, and dangerous statements of “personal freedom” I can recall came during the reaction to mask mandates and lockdowns during COVID: “My rights are more important than your health,” which was a protests sign that appeared in the Dispatch at that time. I must say I shuddered when I read that.

It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about masking; vaccines; lockdowns; guns; justice for the poor, the sick, the elderly, the oppressed; or whatever.

Rights must come with awareness of consequences and responsibilities if we are to deem ourselves at all moral.

Robert Parks, Columbus

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: Rights must come with awareness of consequences