Letters to the Editor | June 21, 2024

This presidential election will be the sixth time the same two candidates will run in back-to-back contests. A tradition started by John Quincy Adams vs. Andrew Jackson and followed most recently by Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai Stevenson. Why can’t we have another choice? Is it because voting for a third party will inevitably steal votes from the candidate we desperately need to win? To quote George Washington, I would say that argument “is itself a frightful despotism.” CNN’s requirements for debate participation are unfair — polls are conducted by phone, when no one under 70 still answers, and securing a place on state ballots is an uphill climb — all while our major party candidates have not even been nominated yet. I think it’s time Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmentalist, anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, nephew of a murdered president, and son of a slain father, is allowed to speak.

Matt Lyons, Glen Mills

I am in total disagreement with the recent letter that mentions the “palpable antisemitism” that was unleashed by Hamas’ retaliatory attack on Oct. 7. Yes, retaliatory. Hamas was responding to years of settler violence and Israel’s decades of systematic oppression of the Palestinian people. Also, it was hoping that taking prisoners would result in a prisoner exchange, which is its usual practice. Israeli violence over the years begets Palestinian violence. Israel has killed 35,000 civilians during the subsequent war, many of them women and children. This follows decades of incursions, humiliations, and checkpoints. Israel has been an occupying army since 1965.

Once again, antisemitism and anti-Zionism are being conflated, and the idea that Israel can do no wrong is being denied. As a Jew, I heard more than once that survivors of the camps during the Holocaust thought all Germans were Nazis and antisemitic. Not true. Anti-Israeli anger is not the same as antisemitism. The letter followed Tuesday’s Inquirer article about 60 families in Gaza who have had at least 25 family members killed. Would the letter writer better understand the “rage and hatred” if these were her own family members indiscriminately murdered among the incessant bombings of Palestinian civilians? Perhaps if she was Palestinian, she would better understand and feel the same way.

Judy Rubin, Philadelphia

Everyone, except one person, looked at Camden as a dead city. Who in their right mind would bother to invest in what was called the “most dangerous city in America”? George Norcross took a chance on Camden. It was not pretty, but it was effective. The waterfront, Cooper Hospital, and the Rutgers-Camden expansion all have his fingerprints. Were some of his methods questionable? Probably. Illegal? Probably not. Norcross trod where the do-gooders never would. He understood that you cannot bring a city back to life without having to take some chances and push some limits. Some feelings were hurt, and some people were pushed aside, but no one was really injured. Camden did not have the luxury of worrying about bruised egos. Now, the armchair quarterbacks are on the attack. People who would never venture to Camden are lining up to go after the only person who cared. Camden was dead. Norcross used every means necessary to shock it back to life. The real question should be, is Camden better now? The answer is yes.

Michael J. Makara, Mays Landing

Public outrage over the proposed demolition of a historic town hall has unearthed a worrisome relic from New Jersey’s past: the derogatory use of the word piney. Tabernacle residents have led peaceful protests after the township committee voted 3-2 to condemn the 150-year-old building earlier this year. But a recently uncovered Facebook post, written by the now-former deputy mayor, has only furthered public distrust. The post accuses pineys, residents of the Pine Barrens, of being “incestuous, illiterate … inbred imbeciles.”

Troublesome comments like these have a long history, dating as far back as 1859, when townsfolk accused their forest-dwelling “pine rat” neighbors of theft and arson. Rumors of incest and sexual immorality abounded in the tabloids, calling for pineys to be segregated and sterilized. The pain caused by these false reports persisted through the 1960s. I was the target of similar grotesque profanities in the 2000s. And once again, this slander rears its ugly head today.

While neighboring towns suburbanize, the more rural town of Tabernacle openly embraces its piney identity. A few years ago, just steps away from the now-condemned town hall, you could purchase “Piney Power” bumper stickers at the general store, or attend the annual Pine Barrens Festival. Shouts to preserve their “piney town” highlight residents’ frustration as cultural touchstones fade. In a society that touts development as the only sign of progress, the 56 municipalities of the Pine Barrens face an uphill battle to save their regional identity. To others, piney is a dirty word. But for us, it is something to be proud of.

Matthew J. Douthitt, doctoral candidate in history, Pennsylvania State University

I am writing as a once-proud alumnus of Temple University. I received my bachelor’s degree in 1975 and my master’s degree in 1984. I was thoroughly dismayed when I learned that the administration had agreed to have Donald Trump speak at the Liacouras Center on Saturday. I understand that, as Americans, we have a right to speak our minds. I’m disappointed that my alma mater chose to invite this wannabe demagogue to speak. I can no longer, in good conscience, support an institution that gives this convicted felon an audience to watch his senseless and often offensive speech. Therefore, I am discontinuing my contributions to Temple.

Jack L. Enco, Lititz

When I read the recent Inquirer story on Philadelphia’s historic drop in gun violence, I was disappointed to see no mention of the investments the state and city have made into community violence intervention programs. CVI uses proven, evidence-based strategies to reduce violence through tailored community initiatives. These multidisciplinary efforts engage individuals and groups to prevent cycles of violence and retaliation. By connecting people with resources, CVI provides services that save lives, address trauma, create opportunities, and improve conditions contributing to violence.

Over the past three years, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which I lead, has awarded nearly $35 million in violence intervention and prevention grants to more than 100 Philadelphia-based projects. The grantees are implementing programs ranging from youth-based mentoring and after-school programs to street outreach and hospital-based violence intervention programs to neighborhood revitalization efforts. In last year’s state budget, the Shapiro-Davis administration invested $40 million into these grants across the commonwealth, and our current budget proposes a $37.5 million increase for this impactful program. Overall, our budget invests more than $100 million to reduce gun violence and build on the important progress we’re seeing in Philadelphia and other communities.

Gun violence is not just a Philadelphia or Pennsylvania problem. It’s a uniquely American problem, but it’s one we can — and must continue to — do something about. The Shapiro-Davis administration is proud to partner with the city of Philadelphia and the community-based groups that are doing the work, day in and day out, to make their neighborhoods safer.

Austin A. Davis, lieutenant governor, Pennsylvania

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