Letters to the Editor | Oct. 16, 2022

It pains me to hear reports on youth crime in Philadelphia because we can secure children’s futures as scholars and citizens, but somehow we don’t deem them worthy of investment. I often see children who are very aggressive, and if that aggression is not addressed when a child is young, it can only manifest in more concerning ways as they get older. If there was earlier intervention for the youth of Philadelphia, I genuinely think there wouldn’t be so much violence now, which would prevent the increasing trend of incarcerations we’re seeing. Proper care can save lives. Investing in early childhood education is the best way to get these supports to the children who need it most and to build stable future citizens. Kids have such limited control over their own lives. How can we expect them to invest in themselves if we don’t first?

Lakeshia Graham, Philadelphia

The world tenses in horror at Vladimir Putin’s hints that, rather than lose his war, he will use tactical nuclear weapons. But is this his meaning? If nothing else, we know that Putin is capable of unlimited deceit and indifference to the consequences of his actions. Suppose his hints have nothing to do with bombs and everything to do with the “accidental” release of radiation from Zaporizhzhia or one of the other Ukrainian reactors? This seems a far more deadly, indiscriminate nuclear action that fulfills his “promise.” What do we do then?

Bob Edelson, Medford

To “stay woke” was a term first commonly used by Black people in the 1930s. It was meant as a cautionary device to warn others to be aware of their social, political, and physical surroundings. Racial prejudice was then, and still is, part of the fabric of our society.

Many years later, in response to incidents of police brutality against Black people and others, “woke” became synonymous with protests against racial injustice and unequal protection of the law.

Since then, the term has been co-opted by the right-wing and their MAGA marionettes as a universal insult for anyone or anything that stands in opposition to their reactionary agenda. If you support civil rights, marriage rights, a living wage, women’s reproductive rights, voting rights, and agree that climate change is an existential threat, you are characterized as hopelessly and irredeemably “woke.”

This should be taken as a compliment rather than an insult. Resistance to such attacks on our freedoms and accepting our role as environmental stewards is the responsibility of every discerning and wide-awake American.

Robert Baruch, Yeosu, South Korea

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.