Letters

Only denying reality

Bradley R. Gitz tries to explain the current political polarization by inverting reality. Here are a few of his comments in his Monday column: 1. "At the heart of identity politics must always be the theory of victimhood," 2. "building a coalition of alleged victims," 3. using "signs of racism, sexism, homophobia, a dismissive view of any apparent societal progress," 4. "identity politics makes everyone more race-conscious," 5. "naked racial and ethnic pandering," and 6. "stoking racial fears and resentment."

Guess which party he blames for each? You guessed it. He claims it is the "left's obsession."

How can any well-intentioned person, like Bradley, watch as "their party" and the president they support courts and wins the support of racist groups (including the KKK, as well as anti-Muslim, anti-Mexican, anti-immigrant proponents), virtually all of the most radical of religious cults, deniers of science, and uses "again" in their motto denying American progress without taking any responsibility for what they are doing to polarize America? One must take responsibility for his own actions as well as the actions of those he supports.

There is a reality. Denying it or inverting it does no good.

BRUCE HAGGARD

Conway

Overprocessed nation

What do the iconic American lawn and Twinkie have in common?

Turf grass in its purest form, and in its native Irish climate and temperatures, was a soft velvety carpet of cool green to walk upon. Twinkie cakes were once upon a time made with things like cream and eggs.

Walk into any lawn and garden section and mostly there are shelves of chemical-contrived pesticides made to kill beetles, bugs, ants, mosquitoes and any and every invertebrate, spider or insect. No matter that 97 percent of them are harmless or beneficial.

At some point, chlorine, bleach, benzine, polysorbate, and ever more petroleum-based chemicals and polys, and ever more additive-laden junk would make America great--proud green lawns and pink-cheeked kids with lunch pails of Twinkies.

But the truth is, to keep our lawns going all summer, we chlorinate water, burn oil and gas machines and apply chemicals to kill this and that. In fact, "killing" is what the lawn and garden departments at Walmart and other stores are promoting.

In order to keep the kids going, nearly five teaspoons of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, chlorinated-bleached flour and all kinds of wizardry and chemistry is applied to abracadabra produce a Twinkie that has some of its ingredients sourced from China or India.

But again, the truth is that emerald lawns and pink-cheeked children aren't made in laboratories. What are we feeding the lawn and the kids? They will be healthier without the processing of their food and pollution caused in the environment by our great American lawns.

SUSAN PANG

Garfield

A political maneuver

I believe including a question about citizenship undermines the constitutional requirement to conduct an accurate census. This political maneuver is a dangerous attempt to further intimidate minority and immigrant communities. Individuals can face up to a $500 fine for refusal or neglect to accurately answer census questions.

While the bureau cannot share individual-level data with federal agencies, it can release neighborhood-level data about specific population groups. In the past this information was used to intern U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. The possession of this data threatens the safety of our communities of color.

The resulting undercount would affect political representation, redistricting, federal fund allocation, and the way the government collects and analyzes data for the next decade. This puts all recipients of federally funded programs at risk. Reapportionment, which determines the number of congressional seats allocated to each state, is calculated based on total residents, not just citizens.

In no way does the addition of a citizenship question protect or enhance the Voting Rights Act. Despite the mandate to undergo a legislative check on the addition of this question, the Census Bureau has provided no testing or evaluation for its justification. Inaccurate enumeration threatens a vital process to our democracy.

Since 2009, the League of Women Voters has been an official partner of the U.S. Census. As a member of the Washington County League of Women Voters, I strongly support our organization's call on Congress to take action and correct this issue before it's too late.

BONNIE MILLER

Fayetteville

Thailand inspiration

After seeing the Thailand boys' picture on the front page of this paper, I was happy to see them and their Wild Boar soccer shirts which looked so like an Arkansas Razorback shirt.

Since seeing this, I thought what a wonderful experience if the Waltons or Jerry Jones could dig deep in their pockets and bring the Thailand boys and families and coach to a real American "football" game. This could be a real inspiration for all. All people young and old could learn to never give up as these Thailand boys showed all of us. Besides them being an inspiration to us, they could see a Razorback football game and then we could overload them with Razorback memorabilia. For the Razorback fans they could be an inspiration for our beloved Razorback football team to never give up on what may be a dismal (or not) football season.

Go Hogs!

MARY NELL BLACKWELL

Sherwood

Editorial on 07/24/2018

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