SNL skit about ‘Lexington Baptist Church’ was not funny!

Not funny!

I was greatly offended by the Saturday Night Live skit which aired on Oct. 29, 2022 depicting “Lexington Baptist Church” in Lexington, Kentucky. While I am not a Baptist (I am in fact, Jewish), I am indignant about the portrayal of the characters as backward, speaking with a drawl and uneducated. This portrayal does a disservice to the many educated and intelligent persons in Lexington, home to the state’s flagship institution, the University of Kentucky.

Indeed, among cities over 300,000 in population, the U.S. Census Bureau ranks Lexington as the 11th most highly educated in the nation. Even more impressive, 19.3 percent of the population has a graduate or professional degree, ranking Lexington 10th among those with advanced degrees. Ours is an educated workforce, there are 10 colleges and universities within 40 miles of Lexington. In addition, Lexington has four other professional and technical colleges. In total, nearly 70,000 students are enrolled in institutions of higher learning in the Bluegrass.

I am proud that my daughters, who were educated in Lexington, KY., graduated from Columbia University in New York City and have careers as an attorney and a doctor.

Simply stated, the skit was derogatory and frankly, NOT humorous.

Jann Geddes, Lexington

RSV precautions

I recently read a Mayo Clinic article about RSV and ways to cut down the risk to your baby. Deb Balzar mentioned washing your hands and not smoking among several ways to reduce the risk. There was a very important one that had been omitted - breastfeeding your infant.

I have known for years that breastfeeding reduces the risk to respiratory illnesses. From the American Academy of Pediatrics: “Breastfeeding has been shown to have a protective effect for infants with RSV bronchiolitis. The World Health Organization recommends a minimum 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding for maximal immune protection against viral infections in infants.”

Roberta P. Newell, Winchester

Offensive coach

Stoops has taken the University of Kentucky football team as far as he can. Pay his contract off and bring in an offense-minded coach. It’s now or never.

Roy Wilson, Lexington

Coach investment

After almost 80 years of following University of Kentucky football, I have figured it out.

The problem with UK football is that UK doesn’t have, and is unlikely to hire, a tier one coach. Until this changes, UK will not successfully recruit against the top SEC teams.

For the most part, the Wildcats have had top quality basketball coaching. They won’t bite the bullet for a football coach, and the longer they go with mediocrity, the harder it will be to change direction.

I’m not holding my breath.

Lou Browning, Maysville

Leaf collection

As I alternate my free time between bagging leaves in tidy paper sacks and placing them next to my overstuffed yard waste bin, driving around town searching for elusive lawn bags, and slipping and sliding around on leaf clutter in the roadways, I wonder if our city leadership could have done a better job when it comes to leaf collection (or the lack of it) this year. The patronizing local TV marketing campaign informing our citizens about the lack of city leaf vacuuming this year doesn’t help to abate this growing frustration.

Why can our city (with a budget surplus of tens of millions of dollars) not provide this very tangible, and helpful benefit? A shortage of available workers is surely a real problem, but I have to think that better planning could have prevented this problem.

John Falace, Lexington

RATP problems

I don’t know what other companies bid on the contract to manage Wheels paratransit for LexTran, but the decision-makers created a remarkable disaster granting the contract to RATP-Dev. RATP arrived with an astounding state of arrogance about how wonderful they were. Ha!

When the paratransit disaster struck Oct. 1, and many of us were outraged at the unbelievable mess, LexTran and RATPDev said, “Give us a month to iron out the kinks.”

There has been no ironing out of kinks. I could tell you horror stories about what I’ve been going through, and multiply my experience across the county. I’ve had to take Lyft multiple times to get to work or class. I was afraid I was going to lose my job. LexTran refuses to reimburse me. My budget is ruptured from having to pay Lyft! I’m seriously considering small claims court, because I’ve spent more than $200 on Lyft since Oct. 1. Yesterday, my rides got reversed. They had me going from work to home in the morning and going to work in the afternoon. Yeeeesh!

Fix it!

Betsy Packard, Lexington

Abortion risks

Amendment 2, rejected in our state of Kentucky is a travesty for women and babies. Among the physical risks of abortion are infection, perforation of the uterus, hemorrhage, cervical incompetence, and even death. Among the psychological risks are depression, nervous disorders, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, alcohol and drug abuse, eating disorders, child neglect or abuse, divorce or chronic relationship problems, and suicide.

Jim Magditch, Versailles

Correct pronunciation

As I listened to some of the election coverage last night, it was like nails on a chalkboard for me to hear someone, with his supposed pulse on Kentucky and Lexington political climate, mispronouncing a winning candidate’s name. He was not alone. Hopefully Bill Bryant and others can learn to pronounce my friend Tayna Fogle’s name correctly.

Her name is pronounced Tawn-nuh. Some have been pronouncing her name wrong since they attended high school with her. I’ve had this discussion with several people. One even insisted they had spelled her name wrong on the ballot Tuesday! It’s not “Tawn-ya” or “Tae-nah” which I heard for the first time Tuesday night.

According to another friend, this has repeatedly happened to her and a handful of other Lexington-based Black women. They are often mistaken for one another, even though they look nothing alike, or are called by the wrong name.

I’m excited to have Tayna represent me in the 1st District. We’re going to be hearing a lot about and from her. Say her name. Respect Black women.

Perhaps a public apology is appropriate and would probably be accepted gracefully.

Diane Cahill, Lexington

Cultural humility

As a Christian, I am concerned about all expressions of antisemitism. Our Christian Bible contains the story of the ancient Jews’ relationship with God in what is also our story. Recently, I had the good fortune to discover an interview with Dr. Willie James Jennings, a Yale University theologian, on a podcast of “The Unfinished Church.” There I discovered a thoughtful explanation for rejecting antisemitism in all forms, including the twitter feed that led to the suspension of Kyrie Irving by the Brooklyn Nets.

In the interview, Jennings calls Christians to humbly acknowledge that we are Gentiles who have entered from the margins into a story of Jewish experiences that were not originally ours. Thus, rather than arrogantly assume a place of centrality in the Judeo-Christian story, he asserts Gentiles should assume a place of cultural humility. The Hebrew scriptures of the Jews’ experiences of God form the foundation of Christian faith, and I am deeply grateful that through the life and teachings of Jesus revealed in the gospels and other biblical writings, I have been brought into Israel’s story of God’s love, justice, and hope. From the position of cultural humility, there is no place for antisemitism, arrogance, and hate.

Anne Brooks, Richmond