Let’s keep working to make sure women have equal rights and opportunities in America
On women’s rights
Although she was deaf and blind, Helen Keller could still hear the cries of women as they spoke out against laws designed to prevent women from having the same rights as men.
With many others, Keller fought for women to have the right to vote so that they could have the power to change laws.
As we celebrate the 100-year mark since the enactment of the 19th Amendment, we should remember the contributions that Keller, Susan B. Anthony and so many other women made toward the freedom of women.
The 19th Amendment states that “the right of citizens of the United states to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
When the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920, it set off a firestorm of change in the lives and social standing of women.
But women still had plenty of work to do to be viewed as truly equal members of society — and women still had to fight for rights like fair wages, equal employment opportunities and much more.
That’s why while we can be proud of the impact that the 19th Amendment has made in improving the lives of women since it was enacted in 1920, we can’t rest on its laurels in 2020.
The battle for equal rights for women remains an ongoing fight.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “on an average day 19% of men do housework compared to 49% of women”
In addition women are the people more likely to serve as caregivers: according to a study by the Caregivers Action Network, approximately 66% of family caregivers are women.
These facts and many others tell us that while we should honor how far we have come in the 100 years since women won the right to vote in America, we still have much more to do to make sure women have all the opportunities they deserve as equal American citizens.
Candace Reilley, Ridgeland
Candace is a junior at Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School in Ridgeland.
She was born in Ethiopia and came to the United States at age 4 after being adopted.
On the airlines
I am an American Airlines flight attendant who has been flying for six years (while I am based out of New York, I am a Charleston resident).
The pandemic is the worst crisis to hit the industry in the history of commercial aviation, and it was a lifeline for us when Congress passed the Payroll Support Program to save jobs and stabilize our industry.
However, thousands of jobs will disappear on Oct. 1 if Congress does act soon to extend the Payroll Support Program.
Aviation is essential to a strong economy, including our local economy here in South Carolina.
This is why members of Congress overwhelming support an extension of the Payroll Support Program — but it can only happen if Congress and the White House negotiate and pass a stimulus bill
Washington, do your job so I can do mine.
Americans will be ready to travel again soon, but for this to happen aviation workers must be ready, too.
Sarah Smoak, Charleston
On a recent SC rally
I have just returned from the outdoor rally at the new Beaufort County Republican Headquarters on Riverwalk Boulevard.
There were approximately 200 loyal party people there with no more than a couple dozen wearing masks of any type — and with no real conscious effort being made to maintain social distancing
The mostly over-55-and-white crowd were exercising their First Amendment rights, and more power to them.
The only nonwhite faces I saw in the crowd belonged to our wonderful law enforcement personnel.
They were spending their time making sure peace was maintained between the 15 or so mask-wearing citizens who were there to protest Sen. Lindsey Graham’s “change of heart” about filling Supreme Court vacancies immediately before an election and the several antagonistic Trumpers who — without masks — made it their quest to get in the faces of those demonstrators who were standing in the far back of the rally.
Unfortunately, it was announced after some time had passed that Graham couldn’t attend the rally as advertised because he had “important work” to do in D.C., and that he was only able to speak via speakerphone.
I had waited almost two hours to hear from the senior senator from the great state of South Carolina — and he pulled a no-show.
I am sure that the organizers of this event knew that Graham wouldn’t be coming, and I just wish they would have been kind enough to announce that at the beginning of the rally.
As Graham started to speak on the speakerphone, I left the rally.
I had been excited to have the chance to hear Graham present his case in person, but it turned out to be another Republican disappointment for me.
Paul Dyson, Okatie