Letters to the Editor | March 21, 2023

For thousands of years, bigotry, racism, and intolerance have existed. People have been taught to hate others, who have never done them harm, because of skin color, religious beliefs, and other reasons no one can explain or rationalize. Now another group that has flown under the radar, people hiding their true feelings for fear of being ostracized, has finally been empowered. They are human beings whose sexual orientation has seen them treated as criminals, though they love, marry, adopt children, and live normal lives. An op-ed by Victoria Brownworth (“I was kicked out of Girls’ High for being gay in the 1970s. Not enough has changed in this country.”) should be required reading, as it describes an existence most people never thought about. Being homosexual is not a choice, and the God-fearing religious who are so vehement are in effect saying, “God makes mistakes.” How many of you believe in divine fallibility? May God bless everyone without exception.

Ralph D. Bloch, Jenkintown, ralphdbloch@yahoo.com

The Inquirer reports demands for increasing the size of the police force to provide protection from growing violence. There will be more demands for more police as long as the violence continues. Until we make a sustained effort to address the underlying problems of poverty, unequal and unjustifiable treatment of people, inadequate public education, and general indifference to the problems of others, increasing the size of any police force will not solve these problems. These problems will only worsen, and we will hear more and more futile demands for increasing the police force, in Philadelphia and every other large city.

Steven P. Hershey, Philadelphia

More than a few professional sports teams are reconsidering their now decades-old decisions to relocate to the fringes of the city or to suburbia. And cities, once the jilted lover, are eyeing the prospects of their return, bringing with them well-heeled fans with their cache of disposable income to stimulate the revival of core city economic vitality. In Philadelphia, it was set up as the classic battle of commerce vs. culture, power vs. the people. This downtown dream is Chinatown’s nightmare. The downtown infrastructure, with its narrow streets and already outrageously priced and limited parking, is not suited to a new arena. And it’s doubtful that two arenas can thrive in this market. The question is, what do we value more: having the finest, underutilized basketball arena in the country, or having the finest communities in the country?

Kenneth R. Garrett, Ambler, kgarrett9013@gmail.com

If you want a glimpse into the future of Chinatown with a basketball arena, look no further than the disaster called the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The project caused massive relocation of residents and businesses and, in the end, benefited only the developer and the politicians who received his generous campaign contributions. Cheap, down-market chains replaced neighborhood stores, and longtime residents lost their affordable apartments. Game days and concerts are a traffic nightmare that must be seen to be believed. Here in Philadelphia, the Ben Franklin Bridge already creates a traffic choke point for cars entering the city. Can you imagine thousands more trying to get in and find parking?

Richard Crossin, Philadelphia

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