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Letters to the editor: July 6, 2020

Staff Writer
Austin American-Statesman
Bar owners and workers march from the Texas state Capitol to the Governor's Mansion to protest Gov. Abbott's closure of bars due to the coronavirus pandemic, June 30 in Austin.

Maskless protesters

displayed insensitivity

Re: July 1 photo, “At a breaking point.”

Austin did the right thing. In March, when your mayor canceled South by Southwest, it was a bold move at a time when many cities and states were slow to take action to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. So what happened?

Wednesday's paper featured a photo of bar owners protesting the temporary closure of bars. They were angry and some weren't wearing masks. The lack of a statewide mandate for wearing masks at the time was unfortunate. States like New York and New Jersey are proving that enforcement of preventative measures is working.

When I see this photo, its subjects reeking of privilege and insensitivity, I am saddened by what is bound to happen next. And to the woman sporting a "Bar Lives Matter" shirt, you don't get to bastardize a phrase that represents real oppression. Black lives matter. It's that simple. Know what else is simple? Wearing a mask.

Lisa Feinstein, Cherry Hill, NJ

Answer to poor behavior

is parenting, not protest

Re: June 28 article, “Austin schools suspend Black students nearly 5 times as often as white students.”

Noting your item on the higher frequency of Black students expelled, and based on my experience teaching in Austin and L.A., students are asked to leave the classroom not because they are Black, but because they (or a student of any race) is disruptive and distracting to the education that is the school's purpose.

Many teachers — including myself — would actually over compensate and try not to send a Black kid out of class, but finally ... .

The solution to this fact, this problem, is not protest but parenting.

Paul Ehrmann, Austin

Cruel for Trump to undo

health care protections

Trump and the Republicans have repeatedly told us that they support health insurance that covers preexisting conditions. Well, this week, while the country was fighting a raging pandemic, Trump and his cronies asked our Supreme Court to kill the only federal law that covers preexisting conditions.

There is no end to the cruelty that Trump is willing to impose on our citizens. We have observed helpless children separated from their parents and locked in cages; tax legislation for the ultra-rich that further disadvantaged the poor; hate-filled rhetoric designed to prejudice the country against ethnic and racial minorities; and a president’s unabashed willingness to unleash our military and justice system to enforce his cruel policies.

Unless we want to live in an autocracy that rejects notions of fundamental fairness and justice, we must remove Trump and his sycophants from office this fall. We can’t withstand four more years of this madness.

Stephen Jody Helman, Austin

Societal restrictions

are for the good of all

Those who believe wearing masks is an infringement of their individual rights should consider that current restrictions are nothing new.

Ever since the beginning of civilizations, societies have imposed restrictions on individuals for the benefit of the common good. Speed limits, stop signs, and criminal laws are a few examples.

Countries without restrictions are lawless nightmares.

Monty VanDover, Austin

True conservatives

need a new party

James Carville wrote a book titled "We're Right, They're Wrong" back in 1996. It could have been called a progressive manifesto and a work of prophecy.

The founders of the republic abhorred the idea of parties in politics, but such an arrangement was inevitable. The notion of the loyal opposition arose to pacify passions. The concept of balance pervades the development of our national institutions. Today, this model is being called into question.

The GOP is not playing by the rules of a representative democracy, and, apparently, has no regard for the rule of law, or the Constitution. They no longer constitute the loyal opposition. Therefore, true conservatives need a new political party to represent legitimate concerns and to rightfully claim the title of loyal opposition. Hypocrisy should never reign.

Payson Blanchard, Round Rock

Abbott’s trying to shut

the door but it’s too late

What happens to seemingly sane people after they get elected to office? Take Gov. Abbott for example. All medical personnel have been warning about opening up businesses and removing restrictions that would've kept thousands from catching COVID-19; but now it's too late.

Abbott is trying to shut the barn door after all of the horses are out. He should have never told Texans that wearing masks was voluntary nor open bars or allow gatherings no matter how small.

Abbott, Trump, Pence and company care more about dollars than human lives.

Edward Lindsay, Fort Worth