Letters to the Editor | June 21, 2023

I was horrified as I read the front-page article, “Shooting victim banned from prom, graduation.” Dashawn Walker attends a school serving many children from parts of the city where gun violence statistics are high, and the innocent are often victims. The statements attributed to Principal Veronica Joyner were disdainful and dismissive. Her concerns about safety may be valid, but she felt entitled to make further degrading comments about Walker and his family. It was shocking to see an educator choose to disparage a young, successful student.

Walker has been through a grueling recovery. His dedication to his studies, his commitment to further education, and his desire to have something good come from his struggle is to be admired. I completely understand his pain and disappointment. I hope he uses the disappointment to keep himself focused on the future and continue his journey of success. One day, instead of reading about his pain, I expect to be reading about his accomplishments and contributions.

Barbara S. Blonsky, Mount Laurel

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Thanks to The Inquirer for the well-presented article on the fate of Dashawn Walker. My heart goes out to him and his family for the awful exclusionary behavior of school administrators. This comes on the heels of the Girls’ High student whose diploma was withheld due to eliciting a “chuckle” from the crowd at graduation. Educational administrators need to be held accountable for overreaching beyond their roles and singling out children for circumstances beyond their control. It’s simply an inexcusable and harmful abuse of power. I hope these wonderful children will understand that those in power make mistakes and that they must be forgiven, like all of us who make mistakes.

Still, educators can and must do better. They need to stay in their lanes. Their power and energies ought to be directed toward helping our children, and not scapegoating and ostracizing them due to real fears of the disorder and violence in our communities, which is far beyond their spheres and control. It is not the fault of the children in these instances, and it is improper to suggest they should be held accountable or treated in an exclusionary manner.

Rebecca Rosenberger Smolen, Ardmore

I admire the entrepreneurial drive of secret supper club operators, but what they may see as a harmless side gig is potentially dangerous. Food purveyors put their customers at risk from food-borne illnesses without thorough food safety inspections by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

Paul L. Newman, Merion Station

In columnist Trudy Rubin’s Sunday piece, the statement that Israel controls everything in Judea and Samaria (referred to in the column as the West Bank) is wrong. In said area, 98% of so-called Palestinians are under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. Israel enters to protect itself from Palestinian Arab terrorism. Sadly, with the Palestinian Authority paying lifetime pensions to those who kill Jews, Israel is forced to enter often.

As to the Ehud Olmert plan, Mahmoud Abbas rejected the peace plan by Israel for one reason: The Palestinians would have to end their state of war with Israel. Since 2000, there have been two other peace plans floated by Israel that were rejected by the Palestinians for the same reason. As to the new Benjamin Netanyahu government being a threat to Israeli democracy, that is also wrong. The government was elected by a majority — the very definition of democracy. The judicial reform puts more power in the hands of the Knesset, which is also democratically elected.

Leroy Kardon, Merion

. . .

It was surprising and gratifying to read Trudy Rubin’s lengthy column on the current deplorable situation in the occupied West Bank, and the rather dismal prospects for Palestinians and Israelis. Her realization of the true intentions of Israel does seem too late, though. In covering the situation for 40 years and seeing clues such as Ariel Sharon’s laminated map of future roads and Jewish settlements, did she not see what was in store for Palestinians? Others certainly wrote about the obvious threat.

If Israel had been serious about wanting peace, it would never have built settlements in the first place. Given the total blind encouragement of Israel by American administrations, perhaps Rubin can be forgiven for hewing to the establishment line. Attributing blame to a lack of Palestinian leadership in the face of Israeli power and Western support hardly seems fair. Israel was founded by displacing Palestinians and, in effect, that policy has not changed.

Joan Hazbun, Media

Reporter Tom Avril’s article about racial bias in determining who gets kidney transplants in our hospitals left me outraged. As a 60-something white citizen of the United States, I have had various levels of health insurance throughout my lifetime, including not having insurance at all for a few years. I worried during this time that I would not be able to pay for my health care if I were to become sick or incapacitated, but I never for a second considered that the health care I received might be biased against me — and perhaps even intended to harm me.

This article brought back images of the Tuskegee airmen, intentionally infected with syphilis, the blatant dehumanization of Henrietta Lacks and her family, the bodies of Black children from the 1985 MOVE bombing being kept for research in a Philadelphia hospital, and so many other atrocities that our Black communities face daily, but that our white communities can choose to ignore. If anyone still questions that systemic racism exists in America today, just look at our health-care system.

Catherine Callan, Elkins Park, callanca@gmail.com

Our current recycling system is an open loop, as the main actors are generally not legally required to take circular action. Specifically, that means manufacturers do not legally have to make their products recyclable, and retailers can stock their shelves with anything they want — no matter how wasteful. Consumers can buy anything they want and dispose of it however is most convenient. Clearly, there’s responsibility for waste at every level, but manufacturers are the first domino. To encourage them to take responsibility for the waste they generate, we need to call for mandatory action and reduce voluntary action.

Legislation that incentivizes circular choices is already being introduced around the world. Governments are proposing a mix of measures, such as extended producer responsibility schemes, recycled content minimum thresholds, and reuse bills, as well as banning certain single-use plastics. We need to encourage faster action and stronger legislation. We can vote with our dollars for companies that are making tangible changes. We can also vote with our voices by telling our favorite brands (gently) to shape up. The key to voluntary action is to think of it like the process of getting a child to eat their veggies. You need to coax them, then reward them, then increase your expectations and repeat until they are eating a healthy diet with no intervention.

Of course, we can’t forget about the responsibility we all bear. Until legislation changes what’s available to us and companies voluntarily act, we must all do our best to buy better, reuse whatever we can, and dispose of waste responsibly. Ultimately, the true solution is to stop waste at the source. We all need to vote for a better future by buying less.

Tom Szaky, founder and CEO, TerraCycle, Trenton

Is anyone really surprised that former President Donald Trump was in possession of classified materials? I watched with worry as images on TV showed boxes being loaded from the White House intended to be sent to Florida when the First Family left the White House for the last time. Didn’t anyone check to see what was in those boxes? Why isn’t anyone asking why he took all that allegedly classified material? Did he intend to hold and use, in the future, those documents in a manner that could ensure his personal safety and provide financial benefit?

Lita Indzel Cohen, retired, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Philadelphia

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