Letters to the Editor | July 10, 2023

After diplomas were temporarily withheld from two students who apparently didn’t follow instructions at the Philadelphia High School for Girls graduation ceremony, it is reasonable to ask whether the school should change its commencement rules. The removal of Lisa Mesi as principal, however, raises a much bigger question: Is the School District suitably focused on the most important aspects of its purpose?

During Mesi’s tenure at Girls’ High, enrollment at the selective-admission school has risen 17%. Over 90% of students are nonwhite. The summer transition program she and her staff created has enabled hundreds of girls who previously might have struggled — or not even been admitted — to thrive at the school. The school sends 76% of graduates on to college, and 77% of them persist into a second year. Mesi deserves credit for increasing opportunities and supporting students to take advantage of them at one of the district’s most storied schools. Her removal, without explanation or defense on her behalf, sends the message that educating and preparing students for adulthood does not sit at the top of district leaders’ priority list. And that explains a lot.

Mark Gleason, Philadelphia

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in favor of Lorie Smith, website designer, claiming her freedom of speech would be violated were she, as a pious Christian, compelled to create websites for gay couples. Randall Wenger, who filed a brief in support of Smith, echoes this claim in his op-ed (July 6). With some sleight of hand, he cites hypotheticals that don’t involve religious piety, such as an atheist commissioned to paint an evangelical mural.

What he also leaves out is the apparent cherry-picking of piety. Unless I missed something, Ms. Smith has no qualms about creating wedding sites for fornicators, adulterers, or those who engage in onanism, all of which the Bible condemns unequivocally.

How pious is it to pick and choose, when all these sins are proscribed? Perhaps piety is as selective as the roster of sins that count. Or only some piety mandates such protection.

Rosalind Holtzman, Elkins Park

Almost three weeks ago, around 3,000 people marched from the 10th Street plaza to City Hall, protesting the construction of a new 76ers arena. Promoted as an economic win for the city, this $1.3 billion arena was announced last July and was immediately met with opposition. The threat of devastation to Chinatown that this arena poses makes it vital that we prevent its construction.

Chinatowns around the United States have been threatened with destruction through development for years; many have already become shells of their former selves. Philadelphia’s Chinatown is home to 4,000 people, many elderly, many immigrants, many low-income. Building this arena would come to the detriment of all those living there. Look at the effect that the Capital One Arena has had on Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown: a population of 3,000 Chinese Americans diminished to 300, and small boba shops and dim sum restaurants have been replaced by chains. Soon the Friendship Arch will be all that’s left. We cannot let that happen to Philadelphia

As of now, city government has yet to approve the arena. What this means is that we still have time. Time to not become the next Washington, D.C. Time to support a neighborhood that was already disturbed by the Vine Street Expressway. Time to rally behind members of the community for a stadium-free Chinatown.

Charissa Lin, Coatesville

In their July 6 op-ed, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania’s Danitra Sherman and Mary Catherine Roper claim that stop-and-frisk is both “a racist policy” and ineffective. Claims of racial discrimination are based on them being conducted most frequently in districts that are predominantly made up of people of color. New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani pointed out that this is where the vast majority of killings happen, and it is the lives of people of color that are being saved by the policy. As to the claim of ineffectiveness, one television news station in Philadelphia counted three million pedestrians and drivers who were stopped over six years. If Sherman and Roper’s estimate of 5% of such stops resulted in the discovery of an illegal gun, that means 150,000 potential murder weapons were taken off the streets. That doesn’t even include how many of those stopped had outstanding warrants, or the many people who decided not to carry a firearm in the street for fear of being stopped and arrested. To reiterate Giuliani’s observation: It’s people of color who are being saved.

Nick O’Dell, Phoenixville, nickodell16@yahoo.com

A recent article highlighted Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Dwight Evans’ commitment to helping gun violence victims. Sen. Casey has been a leader in protecting our communities, announcing $8.5 million in bipartisan federal funding to combat gun violence in Pennsylvania through support for crisis care and behavioral health programs. The bipartisan Safer Communities Act will also fund extreme risk protection order programs that protect at-risk individuals by keeping guns out of their hands and preventing them from posing a risk to themselves or others.

As a veteran, I am deeply concerned about veteran suicides and hopeful that the ERPOs are the right step toward prevention. As the mother of a daughter attending school in Philadelphia, I know that families share our very real concern of school shootings. Parents in and around the city have had to bear witness to random tragedies of gun violence. There were 516 murder victims in the city last year. Roughly 1 out of every 10 victims was 18 years old or younger. We need actionable policy change and allocation of funds for community-based programs.

Sen. Casey has demonstrated his commitment to gun violence prevention through initiatives and partnerships with community leaders. I am grateful The Inquirer informs its readers of Sen. Casey’s legislative actions.

Elizabeth Baik, Elkins Park

“This is secret information. Look, look at this.”

Those are the words of former President Donald Trump, captured on tape, while he was showing stolen classified documents to others in a meeting at his private club, Mar-a-Lago. This is one of the many disturbing details in the recent indictment against Trump, where he is charged with 37 federal crimes, including obstruction of justice and violations of the Espionage Act.

The classified documents included information about U.S. and foreign defense and weapons capabilities, U.S. nuclear secrets, potential military vulnerabilities, and response plans for a possible foreign attack against the U.S. That’s just plain terrifying.

Trump’s political allies don’t want us to believe the charges are true. But when Trump himself publicly and repeatedly confirmed that he intentionally took classified documents, hid them at his private residence, and stonewalled law enforcement from reclaiming what he stole, we can no longer deny the truth.

The rule of law is a basic principle, and no one is above it — including Trump. Fame, fortune, and title cannot and should not prevent someone from being held accountable for wrongdoing.

Khalil Nasur-Din Abdus-Salaam, Philadelphia

Every member of Congress and every state governor, along with their entire state legislatures, should be required to walk through the halls and classrooms of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School before its demolition to see the effects of their shameful inaction on stemming the spread of gun violence in this country.

Let them see the bloodstains and the shattered glass. Let them imagine the screams of the dying as the horror played out because of their love of money over safety. Let them experience the pain and suffering they’ve inflicted on the population by bowing to the NRA and the gun lobby while filling their pockets with dark money.

Only they can bring this insanity to a halt. Only they can stand up and say enough to stop the slaughter of our future. It is far past time for our legislators to act. A tangible visual representation of their cowardice might be enough. We can only hope.

Steve Arcidiacono, Havertown

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