TNT letters to the editor, 4/6/2021
Racial hatred
There are folks who might ask if anti-Asian hate is actually an issue – or think that the recent movement against such hate is an overreaction.
Is it really that bad? Why does this matter to me? I would never do anything like that. I’m not racist…
But when an entire group of people are all saying the same thing, maybe you should listen.
No one should have to warn her elderly mom to cross the street immediately if someone she doesn’t recognize is walking too closely. Nor should congregation members have to strategize where they should sit during services, in case an attacker enters their Chinese church.
I have a friend who was brave enough to admit he had negative experiences with a subset of people since childhood. Being human, it now colors his judgment.
I don’t have answers to the world’s race problems, but in my friend’s case, he realizes and acknowledges his prejudice, understands why it is unfair and hurtful, and moving forward says he will make informed decisions.
That’s a great start.
SueSan Chan, Tacoma
Voter laws
Can someone explain to me how requiring voters to show proof of identification to request an absentee ballot or just a ballot in general is a violation of a person’s rights, or how it suppresses the minority vote?
You have to show an ID to cash a check at the bank, or to buy cigarettes, alcohol or marijuana.
In my wife’s former country of the Philippines, a Third World country at that, they are required to carry a photo voter ID and no one’s vote is suppressed.
I just don’t understand the argument. They say minorities can’t get ID’s. Why not?
When my wife arrived in America, I took her to the Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles to get a photo ID. It was that simple.
We need voter identification laws to preclude fraud.
Robert S. Viguers III, Steilacoom
Gun violence
Re: “Guns: Ideological lines firmly drawn,” (TNT letter, 4/2).
The letter writer was responding to an editorial supporting robust research into US gun violence. He even mentioned the NRA has been a reasonable partner to enact gun laws in the past.
I almost coughed up my coffee. In fact, the NRA has vehemently opposed the CDC doing research into why we have more than 10 times more gun violence than other First World countries.
I can tell you why they’re opposed: Because the NRA doesn’t want to know. Or they have a strong suspicion and don’t what the public to know.
The letter writer also insists there is a “current focus on banning guns.” Other than weapons of war and high-capacity clips, no one is promoting banning guns. Only weapons used in many mass murders.
States with the most lax gun laws are the same states with the highest percentage of gun ownership and gun violence.
Even without comprehensive research done by the CDC, what does that alone tell us?
John Whitmore, Gig Harbor
Climate change
Re: “Picking the wrong battle” (TNT, 4/4).
In response to the letter writer who thinks picking up your litter and having a few babies (one of whom might invent cold fusion one day!) is a response to climate change, I can only say: That is not a plan.
That is a total abdication of responsibility from the most complex, life-threatening challenge humans have ever faced.
Waiting for some babies to fix it? Yours is the deadliest kick-the-can game ever contemplated.
Mary Lynn, Tacoma
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 1:06 PM with the headline "TNT letters to the editor, 4/6/2021."