Letters to the Editor | Nov. 5, 2023

In response to Councilmember Quetcy Lozada’s mission to fix Kensington, I have three words: It’s about time. Being a property owner in the area, I have witnessed firsthand all the ill effects the open-air drug markets have on the surrounding community and its residents and business owners. This activity has been allowed to go on for too long, and the policies and strategies of the past have been miserable failures that the community has paid for.

Crime goes up, business revenue goes down and stores close, residents and their children feel unsafe, trash litters the streets, sidewalks become impassable, and various groups loiter endlessly. It is completely unacceptable for the residents and businesses to have to bear the burden of this storm any longer. Councilmember Lozada states that she stands for the residents of the community, the people who live and work there, and so do I. I agree with her 100%. Kensington needs a new way forward. The time is now. No more excuses. Shut down the drug markets and clean the streets. The residents deserve it, and so does our great city.

Thomas McTaggart, Philadelphia, ttutone12@gmail.com

Last night, my block “participated” in the Hug the Block initiative, in which volunteers take to the streets in an effort to combat crime and violence. Although, I would truly like to know what they are trying to accomplish by screaming in the street until 4 a.m. While other citizens in “safer,” more affluent areas of Philadelphia were able to get a good night’s sleep, my neighbors’ sleep was interrupted. Our working people will find it even more difficult to pull themselves out of bed, support their families, and engage with loved ones. Our children will find it harder to concentrate in school and have missed out on the sleep that is essential for their brain development. Our caregivers who look after the most vulnerable will be slightly off their game, posing a serious risk to those under their watch. Even our pets were on edge, barking at the loud noises and flashing lights in the street.

I understand trying to bring awareness to gun violence, but they have missed the mark here. The folks on my street vote and we have strong neighborly relationships, but that is the extent of our power. Why aren’t they waking up the wealthy neighborhoods where the CEOs who refuse to pay a living wage reside? Go wake up the acting police commissioner. Go wake up the mayor. Go wake up our representatives. I promise, my neighbors don’t need a person with a megaphone at 2 a.m., accompanied by bright police lights and sirens, telling them how harmful, heartbreaking, and devastating gun violence is — they know.

After all, the blocks being targeted are the ones deemed “unsafest.” This program is not only an egregious example of victim-blaming, but gaslighting as well, when the gun problem in our country is not limited to blocks, and certainly won’t be addressed without a deep shift in political philosophy, commitment, and policy. Stop contributing to the systematic harm and cycles of poverty that allow gun violence to be rampant.

Alison Berk, Philadelphia

I like to think that were any student in any school across the country to disrupt class by shouting, let alone shouting for genocide, there would be swift discipline. Yet Temple Law School does not seem to have disciplined the first-year students who asked a professor whether they could speak to the class, blatantly lied about their script, and then led a chant calling for the violent destruction of Israel, while allegedly “staring down” Jewish students in the classroom. These students created a hostile environment for their peers, so much so that some of their classmates are now afraid to reenter the classroom.

Free speech and academic freedom are not absolute. They are trumped by threats, harassment, and inciting violence. These law students purposefully intimidated their peers. How do we know? Because they chose to lie about what they intended to say. Creating an environment of learning and growth that honors freedom of expression and encourages civil discourse begins with respect. Temple Law School has a responsibility to hold these students responsible for their behavior. I shudder to think what antics they’ll pull in the courtroom if allowed to behave this way in the classroom.

Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein, Temple Class of 1987 and adjunct instructor, Klein College of Media and Communication, Temple University, Elkins Park

A recent column by conservative columnist Jennifer Stefano laments what she terms the “rot on campus,” a condition she blames on the liberal leanings of administrators and faculty. She eviscerates these institutions for allowing speakers who she doesn’t agree with, and who she thinks are indoctrinating pliable young minds. In her convoluted rationale, she bolsters her theories with quotes from well-heeled University of Pennsylvania donors outraged that the school did not issue a demonstrative condemnation of the recent attack on Israel.

Does that mean venture capitalists and hedge fund managers should dictate the policies of their alma maters, or worse yet, should far-right opinion columnists? It would seem this mentality dovetails nicely with the book-banning movement at lower levels of our educational system. After all, the less we expose students to knowledge, the easier it is to manipulate them. One of the main goals of education, particularly at higher levels, is to make us think. Narrow-minded, agenda-driven curriculums will only produce more of the same. The “rot” on campuses is not a leftist plot, it’s an insidious attempt to stifle free speech. The use of the First Amendment, often frustrating to conservative think tank executives — as well as disciples of the far-left — is the foundation of a free society. Deterioration of that right is the worst kind of rot.

J. Savage, Philadelphia

To borrow from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the surge in antisemitism has not occurred in a vacuum. Three concurrent developments have contributed to its rise. First, the romanticization of Palestinian terrorists in the media as freedom fighters. Acts of terrorism are often buried in an article that begins with how many people Israeli forces killed, not the terrorist attack that elicited the response. Beyond that, historical context is never included. How many people know the Palestinians have rejected several peace proposals, or that Israel has been invaded multiple times?

Secondly, our educators have failed us. Universities have taken exorbitant donations from rich Arab countries, which has undoubtedly helped shape the curriculum to a pro-Palestinian narrative. Can they maintain scholastic integrity in the face of this money? The same universities host groups that call for the elimination of Israel. Do they host any other group that calls for the elimination of a people?

Third, let’s not leave out nationwide diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at businesses, colleges, and government agencies. Designed to address inequities against historically marginalized groups, they tend to omit Jews, and subscribe to the bifurcation of the world into “oppressors and oppressed.” Jews can’t possibly be oppressed, as they are successful. Some go so far as to accuse them of white supremacy.

I should remind people that many successful Jews were killed by Nazi Germany, and success did not protect them from bigotry. The media, the educational system, and DEI programs have failed our Jewish citizens. Can they face their complicity — whether conscious or unconscious — or will they continue to peddle their current narrative? We need to take a deep look at ourselves and honestly examine how we’ve allowed this oldest and recurrent bigotry to surge in our nation.

Katrina Giovanni, Philadelphia

Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.