Letters To The Editor

A familiar scene
To the editor: Here we are again watching news on TV about another black man dying at the hands of cops. When will people learn that doing something other than what the cop wants is where all of this starts?
In every instance like this it always starts with the person that gets pulled over trying to do something other than what the cops tell them to do. In every instance, at that point, is where everything goes wrong.
Am I the only one who can see this? Surely not. Is it that they are afraid of cops, that they don't understand the process that the police must follow, or is it something else?
Then there is the over aggressive police officers that change lives forever in a very negative way.
Where will it stop?
Mark Fisher
Northwood

Graphic images
warranted

To the editor: After each mass shooting in the U.S. we send our thoughts and prayers, then move on to the next shooting.
I’m no expert, but I think we need to be bold enough to show very graphic photos of the victims – even the school children - who have been blown apart in these shootings. Maybe this would be enough to wake the silent majority.
I’m a Purple Heart combat veteran and can say for sure there are images that you can never “un-see.”
Wake up and vote people into office who are strong enough to make changes.
David Kodger
Curtice

NFL the altar of
secular religion
To the editor: This year’s Super Bowl features two African-Americans as the starting quarterbacks for the first time, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts.
This month also marks four Black History Months since the owners of the National Football League made their out-of-court settlement with Colin Kaepernick. The NFL owners had become what I define as corporate practitioners of Economic Apartheid - using capitalism, colonialism, racism, and socialism to preserve white supremacy against people of color.
The time frame I am addressing was approximately February 2019; when the NFL owners realized
that pursuing their case in court would not have been aided by then President Donald Trump giving a deposition concerning Colin Kaepernick’s constitutional right to protest in his National Football League workplace before a game, Trump did not comprehend the meaning of constitutionality - in the NFL workplace. Nor was Trump cognizant that Kaepernick had financial support from a corporation that didn’t practice Economic Apartheid, as he is a Nike spokesperson.
In fact, we as a nation have come to acknowledge that professional football is now America’s secular religion via the prayers and outpouring of concern for Buffalo Bills football player, Damar Hamlin, across the nation.
I was truly surprised and overjoyed that we as fans and a nation cared so profoundly for Hamlin's welfare. I don’t want to dismiss how important football is to college students, but in my opinion, it is more of a tribal celebration.
Now, I ask what reaction would the nation have if both African-American quarterbacks, Patrick Mahones and Jalen Hurts take a “knee” against police brutality with the Memphis incident of Tyre Nichols on the minds of so many Americans and not just people of color?
Clarence Gafeney
Toledo