South Carolina should do more: Take down racist monuments | Letters
As we watch cities and states throughout the South respond to the civil unrest related to the indiscriminate murder of our black and brown brothers and sisters and the systemic racism that continues to disproportionately penalize minorities by removing the racist monuments to our horrible past, I am disappointed to see no such action being taken in South Carolina.
What a wonderful gesture it would be for the first state to secede from the Union to take down every Confederate statue – literal monuments to our unthinkable past actions – and help us move forward.
Where are our state leaders at this time?
To Gov. Henry McMaster and the members of our General Assembly, what are you waiting for? It is well past time to move forward and show the world that black lives matter in South Carolina. We are watching and waiting. November is coming.
Justin Jarrett
Bluffton
America faces a bigger sickness than coronavirus
We are in a period of dual crises. More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus. We sit in isolation in our living rooms and see another crisis unfolding before us. That image of the white police officer kneeling on the neck of a helpless black man has to stoke the anger of every decent human being. It is a modern-day version of lynching, but even more horrible because it was performed by an officer of the law.
A friend asked if this present crisis reminds me of any past period. Yes, in the 1960s Vietnam War and civil rights issues split our country apart; as well as the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; and the burning of our cities.
I wondered at the time, “Is our country going to survive?” It did.
I was proud of our progress, until recently when a sick man walked into a synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot the Jewish worshipers, or the horror in Charleston when a white monster sat with a group of blacks who were studying the Bible, pulled out a gun and killed nine of our fellow human beings.
I’m scared, and not of the coronavirus. I expect that science and medicine will work together to rescue us.
I have, however, lost confidence that our country is capable of working together to solve its much bigger, longer-lasting sickness, with many more casualties and lives wasted. It’s called racism.
My heart is broken.
Charlie McOuat
Hilton Head Island
Police killings are not the epidemic some would have you to believe
Facts always matter, and never more so than when emotions are out of control.
What happened in Minnesota is a tragedy and would be so regardless of the racial equation. It should not happen and the officers involved are subject to the same laws they are charged to enforce. We all demand justice.
I have scoured the internet for sources to try to find and create a frame of reference. I not only welcome others to do so but make corrections when properly sourced. We need a clear, factual understanding. It would seem to unfold like this:
We have 330 million citizens.
We have 12 million arrests.
We have 800,000 total law enforcement officials.
Last year, 28 unarmed people were killed by police, 19 of them white, according to Dan Bongino on Fox News.
This is not the “epidemic” alleged by media, but it has been accepted as such by an unthinking, uncritical public who has abandoned authentic, classical liberal skepticism for an anarchistic catechism.
As a lifelong student of history, I know we need to stop the violence ... now! Otherwise, we will unleash a whirlwind that we cannot restrain.
Steve Quick
Hilton Head Island
Show bright spots amid America’s turmoil
Thank you for your story of the peaceful protest group in Beaufort at Ribaut Road and Boundary Street over the weekend, and the welcoming gesture of some Beaufort police officers taking a grill and cooking for them.
I also saw on CNN a sheriff walk into a group of protesters organizing in his jurisdiction, take off his hat and say to the protesters, “Look, my officers and I have put down our batons, we are here to walk with you.” And they did.
We all need to see more examples of police officers and leaders like these in communities across the country.
When officers behave like guardians of the public instead of enforcers in times of crisis, you know they have good relationships with the citizens where they took an oath to serve and protect, not bully and contain.
These people have something we all need to learn. They should be tapped as teachers and trainers of how to develop and maintain this type of service and protection model.
I ask the Packet to research and show us more. Lift up examples of good amid all the wrongdoing and make it available to the national media.
Use your reach to help us see our way out of this evil and ugly reality. Keep showing us positive alternatives, and introducing us to people who can lead us to humanity and hope.
And please place it above the fold on the front page.
Susan Baukhages
Bluffton
I’ve had enough of Trump’s drama
So President Donald Trump wants to use the military against his own people who are peacefully protesting? This is beyond the pale and against our constitutional rights.
As a former Republican, I am voting for Joe Biden, a descent man who can heal this divided country, and I am imploring my fellow citizens to join me.
Enough with this drama queen, soap opera, fake president who has had us fighting among ourselves for the last four years.
This country is badly broken and we need the best people that Biden will attract and assemble to fix it. Enough with the clown show currently in the charge.
God bless America.
Scott Lemen
Hilton Head Island
Why a blackout of Fox News?
Did anyone else notice that the Fox News channel on Spectrum was apparently electronically jammed for a considerable time on Tuesday evening while MSNBC on an adjacent channel was clear as a bell?
I hope some investigative reporter will tell me in a few days if it was a Spectrum technical problem or an outside agent who would make Adolph Hitler or Vladimir Putin proud.
Donald G. Kennedy
Hilton Head Island
Beaufort County businesses must insist on coronavirus safety if they want customers
Throughout the pandemic, I have been careful to protect myself and others by wearing a mask and, at times, gloves when in public.
On Tuesday, with some trepidation, I went to Tanger 1 to return items that I had purchased online by going to the newly reopened store rather than pay to return them by mail. I found that both in the store and in the large parking lot, I was the only one wearing a mask.
I am disconcerted to realize how many people just don’t care about their own and my protection from the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are being asked to support our local businesses, and I firmly agree that this is important.
But I cannot do so if I feel my health is at risk.
I don’t believe confrontation will change the minds of those who don’t wear masks, so what can we do to encourage them?
Would it be at all feasible for stores to have lightweight and inexpensive masks available at their entrances? I am fearful that we will see a great rise in the number of cases due to this lack of participation in the use of personal protective equipment.
Laura Hrubi
Hilton Head Island
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