Opposition to a $15 minimum wage is understandable but difficult to defend
Minimum wage
The justification for raising the federal minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour is undeniable.
The opposition from employers to the proposed increase to $15 per hour is understandable but difficult to defend.
The active discussion begs the simple and direct question: Should businesses in this country be accepted and supported if the employer is unable or unwilling to provide a living wage for their employees?
Although a bit stark, this is, I believe, the relevant consideration.
Dean R. Prestemon, Cary
Stimulus bill
There is much hand-wringing and complaining in the media that President Biden has already abandoned his goal of unifying the country because he is pushing forward with COVID relief without “bipartisan” support.
Indeed, he is unlikely to get any Republican votes for the bill in Congress.
But bipartisan can mean that members of the major political parties agree on all or most of the parts of a political choice. The COVID relief bill does have bipartisan support, including support of up to 60% of Republican voters, depending on the poll.
Instead of focusing on President Biden, the media should be asking Republicans in Congress why they insist on voting against the will of the people.
Charlie Muehl, Asheville
Stanford Middle
I am disheartened and disappointed with the Orange County school board’s decision to rename C.W. Stanford Middle School. (Feb. 25)
Little or no attempt was made to honestly determine the content of Stanford’s character. Instead, the board presented an incomplete and misleading timeline on the slow progress of desegregation in the county.
How did the board make such an unfounded, uninformed snap judgment? Because their minds were already made up.
The announcement of the school’s name change so soon after the name change of Cameron Park Elementary School – named for a prominent slaveholder – serves to equate the two men. It drags through the mud the name of a public servant who actually stood on the progressive side of history.
The solution to injustice cannot be further injustice.
Billy Stanford, Wilmington
History lessons
Regarding “NC Holocaust bill embroiled in Black history fight,” (Feb. 25):
The Holocaust and American slavery are two different tragedies, each with its own unique lessons to be learned, though surely the human propensity to dehumanize applies to both.
Teaching them together as a single subject diminishes the lessons learned from each.
Let both subjects be taught — on their own terms. The rise of white supremacy and also of antisemitism requires a thoughtful and effective educational response. Both increase during periods of economic dislocation and insecurity. But let’s not confuse the two.
Rabbi Jonathan Gerard, Durham
NC teachers
As an educator, I heard many people, just last spring, say just how amazing teachers were. Where is that appreciation and compassion now?
Teachers are being asked to return to school buildings that are not safe and expected to try to teach and monitor safe behaviors of students.
The “learning loss” that I am seeing comes from those who seem to have forgotten that the same teachers and staff they once put on a pedestal are the people they are so quick to put in harm’s way now.
The most logical solution concerning a return to classrooms is to wait until all school staff are vaccinated.
Paula Januzzi-Godfrey, Durham
Cooper’s new rules
With Gov. Roy Cooper relaxing attendance at outdoor concert venues, I don’t understand how this will work for people with season tickets or assigned seats.
I have two front-row seats to Garth Brooks at Bank of America stadium in Charlotte April 10. I don’t believe any artist can afford to play at a venue where only 30% of the tickets are sold.
The other problem is how does a venue/promoter decide which 30% of the tickets will be honored. This seems like a nightmare and impossible to handle fairly. Unless the concert is canceled, the $537 I paid for these tickets won’t be refunded.
The governor’s decision seems to cause more problems than solutions.
Linda Rowland, Raleigh
Coyote contest
Last weekend, the Carolina Coyote Classic took place in North Carolina and hunters killed 272 coyotes over a few days.
The end result was a pile of dead canines in the back of a trailer. This is a prime example of unethical waste of wildlife.
Every being has a purpose in our ecosystem and nature has a way of balancing itself. When we need to interfere with an out of balance ecosystem, we look to our state’s Wildlife Resources Commission to manage wildlife populations.
Our commission has published a Coyote Management Plan based on science and years of data collection. They have repeatedly said that bounties and killings of coyotes en masse do not control populations and in fact can lead to more breeding and more litters.
If science and ethics do not support these killing contests, it is our responsibility to ban these contests in our state.
Erika Kelly, Indian Trail
