Letters to the Editor | Nov. 30, 2022

On a bright afternoon in the early ‘70s, at the front entrance of the Curtis Building located at South Sixth and Walnut Streets, T. Milton Street Sr. and a group of his followers began hurling stones toward the upper floors of the building where the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development had offices. I watched this from my office at the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Building on the south side of Independence National Historical Park as some of my colleagues loudly condemned what was unfolding. Earlier in the same period, I had visited the HUD office to petition the return-to-market of abandoned and boarded-up properties in my community of Mount Airy. At the time, I was president of the Northwest Housing Association, and my polite petitions to HUD had been ignored more than once. The same afternoon that Street showed up in civil disobedience, I received a call from a HUD official saying, “Mr. Brooks, can we talk?” The effect of Street’s protests ranged far beyond South Sixth and Walnut and Mount Airy. Thanks, Milton; we are indebted to you.

Bill Brooks, Newark, williamebrooks@verizon.net

To determine how to stop or at least reduce mass shootings, we need only do a simple root cause analysis. When looking at the data from mass shootings over the last several decades, there are some common threads that the data uncover for us. Some are shootings of passion, some of prejudice, some of power, or lack thereof, some of work-related issues, some of religious issues, some of lack of opportunity, and even a few (but not many) related to mental illness. But there is only one thing that is common to all mass shootings: easy access to guns. Until we are willing to address the only issue related to all mass shootings, we will never be able to do anything that will significantly impact them, no matter how many of the other issues we address. There are things we can do related to access to guns, and the type of guns we have access to, that could significantly impact the number and deadliness of mass shootings without infringing on the people’s right to keep and bear arms. If we are not willing to address the one issue common to all mass shootings, we will never impact them, and our children, our parents, and our brothers and sisters will continue to die.

Paul Nichol, West Chester

What an awesome, amazing commentary on the high school curriculum by Jemille Q. Duncan. It was spot on! We have been learning the same things since the educational system was founded. How many high schoolers know how to balance a checkbook, use a voting machine, or write an effective resume? I’ve never used half the stuff I was taught, such as algebra. Life skills need to be as basic as the ABCs. Those students who choose STEM paths should continue. Liberal arts courses, traditionally taught in college, would expand these young minds more effectively. Let’s make it easier to teach subjects that are more useful to living every day. Education is the key.

Marion C. Magnotta, Philadelphia

Through repetition, there are messages and labels that appear to have become accepted. This is on display in columnist Kyle Sammin’s discussion of Josh Shapiro and, in fact, the Democratic Party in general. I would like to point out that Democrats do not “support abortion,” as I have often seen and heard. We support a woman’s right to choose. There are many reasons a woman might choose to have an abortion, including saving her own life. I can’t imagine a more challenging decision, and one that primarily belongs between the woman and her doctor, perhaps including parents, partners, and others important to the woman facing the decision. For those who insist on the right to individual freedoms, which apparently includes the freedom to own an AR-15, then they must support the right for a woman to make health care choices for herself.

Steven Schwartz, Springfield

Trying to promote prosperity for the people of Pennsylvania by relying on legalized gambling is a fool’s errand. As The Inquirer Editorial Board rightly points out, the revenue generated for the state must be weighed against the societal costs of gambling addiction. Also, there is this: Money spent on gambling is money not spent at restaurants, bars, music venues, movie theaters, bowling alleys, skating rinks, arcades, and any other place that competes for our entertainment dollars. And please don’t call it “gaming.” It is a dishonest word meant to obscure a dirty enterprise.

Don Wuenschel, Swarthmore

A recent article chronicled the absolute chaos at Dobbins High School, describing substantial culture and safety problems. Students walk the halls during class time, there are frequent fights (including one instance of a student assaulting a staffer and being back in school the same week), and hallways reek of weed. There was no one available from the Philadelphia School District for comment. Sounds as if the “inmates” are running the “asylum.” I doubt this scenario is limited to Dobbins. In a recent editorial, it was noted the School District spends $3.9 billion annually to educate 120,000 students. That equates to $32,500 per student, per year. That amount is more than the annual tuition (excluding room and board) for an in-state student at West Chester University. The cries for more funding for public schools are unwarranted. The real problem is the lack of leadership and management of the School District. Mayor Jim Kenney, the Board of Education, the School District administration, and the leadership of the various unions are collectively responsible for this mismanagement and malfeasance. New leadership and management are needed to take back control of the classrooms and ensure that taxpayer dollars are well spent. Hopefully, a new mayor will take on these challenges and ensure the School District is run in an accountable and efficient manner. The defining question is: Which of the announced mayoral candidates is up to the task?

Taylor McCormick, Drexel Hill

I don’t live in Cumberland County, but I was quite amused to see New Jersey State Sen. Michael Testa Jr. puffing up his chest with braggadocio about the GOP’s surprising South Jersey electoral wins by campaigning on issues that matter to the voters. I know nothing of his campaign promises, but I would advise him that the hard part is governing and coming through on those campaign promises. Did he promise to move the needle on the issues he mentioned in his letter, the fact that Cumberland County is last in the state in median income for families with children and among the worst in unemployment and literacy rates? If you implement your policies and the results matter, reelection should be no surprise next time.

Roy Lehman, Woolwich Township

My name is Tom, and I have a problem: I am addicted to buying warranties. Whenever I watch an ad, especially by a celebrity, and they tout the dangers of not having such protection and risking financial disaster, I have an immediate urge to sign up. Thus, I have accumulated a stockpile of various warranties and am confident I am secure and financially responsible. However, this feeling is turned upside down when I file a claim. Whether by phone or electronically, I encounter a maze of roadblocks and supposedly simplified menus that intensify the frustration. Without an understandable human voice, which gives hope, new levels of frustration arise. On a lucky day I can schedule a repair, but usually inconvenience rules and rescheduling reigns. Thus has been the claim hazard, and I’II remain in a dilemma of paying for services that will not be rendered. Often, the solution is to find a more dependable local handyman. At worst, I end up buying a new product, which was probably the manufacturer’s original plan.

C. Tom Howes, Havertown

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