Wednesday's letters: Pick Black woman, resist censorship, choose life, more

High time for Black woman on high court

I am responding to “Choose best ‘person’ for Supreme Court,” a letter published Jan. 30.

The letter writer banally opines that a Black woman will always wonder if she would have been appointed to the court had she not been Black. To the contrary, she will say: “It’s about darn time!”

For the life of our republic, a Black woman has not even been thought of, never mind considered, to be qualified. A Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson or J. Michelle Childs might also observe her fellow justices – the political hacks Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, and the religiously pure Amy Coney Barrett – and wonder how they got there.

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What made them better than anyone else beyond their white skin and conservative views? I’m sure they don’t feel guilty for being appointed.

Justice Clarence Thomas was selected because he was a Black man, nothing more, nothing less. I’m sure he doesn’t worry about it either.

Contrary to the American myth, politics and race consciousness have always been major factors in choosing SCOTUS justices. For most of our history, only white men need apply and I’m sure none felt guilty being selected.

African American women need not apologize for having an equal place in the political consideration.

Robert J. Catineau, Sarasota

Polk County schools must resist censorship

I was alarmed to read the story about Polk County school district administrators removing books from middle and high schools following complaints by a group named, of all things, County Citizens Defending Freedom (“Polk schools removes 16 school library books,” Jan. 28).

The books were alleged to contain pornographic material, harmful to minors. Included in the list of 16 books were those by bestselling writers like Jodi Picoult, Toni Morrison and Khaled Hosseini.

The story made me think of a scene from the 1984 movie, “Footloose.” John Lithgow plays a conservative small-town minister named Shaw Moore. In the scene, he runs through town to the library, where a group of citizens is burning books felt to be harmful to their children. Here is his message to them.

“Stop everybody and listen to me. When did you decide to sit in judgment? Who elected all of you to be saviors of everybody’s souls? When you burn all of these (books), what are you gonna do then?

"Satan is not in these books, he’s in here! He’s in your heart.”

The minister’s reaction to efforts to remove and burn books was a courageous one. I hope that the residents of Polk County and the leadership of the Polk County schools will be just as strong in their rejection of this form of censorship.

Timothy Imhoff, Sarasota

Choices: ‘Yes’ to abortion or ‘yes’ to life

A letter Jan. 29 ended with this statement: “Please explain to me why anyone would prevent a woman from having this choice” (“Abortion allowed happy, productive life”).

This is my explanation: Maybe someone can benefit.

Every choice says “yes” to something and “no” to something else. The writer chose “yes” to death in her “yes” to abortion. She chose “no” to life for her unborn baby.

In the rest of the choices described in her letter, she painted the picture of a materially rich life. However, there is a hint of the death of a marital relationship.

The quality of a life cannot be measured only, or even principally, by material success. One must seek the good of the other to be truly happy and fulfilled.

Eternity lasts a long time – choose life!

Denise Rosier, Sarasota

Opportunities stolen from unborn baby

This is in response to the Jan. 29 letter in which the writer tells us how her abortion allowed her to have a happy, productive life, enabling her to provide for her children and grandchildren, helping them to buy homes, take swimming lessons and dance classes and so on.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if that child you aborted were to have had the opportunity to have a happy, productive life? Or, wouldn’t it have been nice if a childless couple had the opportunity to adopt that child and provide him or her with a happy, productive life?

Ah, but sadly, that can never happen because she chose to end its life.

Bill Bauer, Venice

Conservative columnists provide balance

The letter Jan. 30 calling for the removal of Marc Thiessen and Jake Hoffman from the Opinion page is the exact reason they should not be removed (“Run conservative columnists worth reading”).

The author, in asking for their removal, exemplifies the toxic nature of “cancel culture.” Keeping Thiessen and guest columnists such as Hoffman adds balance and conservative voices to an otherwise liberal op-ed section.

Paul Maloney, Venice

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Black women deserve spot on court, stand up against censorship