Letters to the Editor | Oct. 4, 2023

As an African American man myself, I strongly empathize with Colin Kaepernick’s position on America’s issues concerning discourse and/or actions toward racial inequality. Kaepernick knelt to privately protest injustice against people of his own racial ethnicity. President Donald Trump spoke against Kaepernick’s actions, lambasting him for not standing at the playing of the national anthem. Hypocritically strange. From what New York Jets fans had experienced during the start of the season with the injury of the team’s quarterback Aaron Rodgers, adding Kaepernick to the roster would be a win-win for the Jets.

Wayne E. Williams, Camden

As president of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, I am deeply concerned about the profound impact of crime on small businesses, particularly in neighborhood commercial corridors. A recent Inquirer article shed light on the struggles faced by the owners of Kensington’s Cantina La Martina. The James Beard award-winning restaurant is just the type of business Philadelphia residents want to see established in their commercial corridors. However, it’s a painful truth that its success story is marred by externalities, like the relentless nuisance behavior and crime, including break-ins, thefts, and even violent incidents, that our city seems unable to address.

Small-business owners surveyed by the Diverse Chambers Coalition of Philadelphia indicated that addressing crime was their top priority for improving the business climate in the city. Half of respondents reported being impacted by crime. They have had to invest in security and reduce their hours of operation. At the same time, it has become more difficult to hire employees, and their customer count has dropped. La Martina’s struggles serve as a microcosm of the broader issue. When crime prevails, businesses shutter, jobs disappear, and neighborhoods lose their vitality. It’s a vicious cycle that, when left unaddressed, leads to a decline in the overall quality of life in our communities.

We need a coordinated and sustained effort involving local authorities, business organizations, community leaders, and law enforcement. Community policing initiatives, increased patrols, improved lighting, and accessible security measures are steps in the right direction. Equally important is the engagement of residents in crime prevention efforts, fostering a sense of shared ownership and active participation in making our commercial corridors safer. Small businesses are not just economic entities, they are the heartbeat of our communities. Their success and security are intertwined with the prosperity and vibrancy of our neighborhoods.

Jennifer Rodríguez, Philadelphia

Ed Rendell took office as Philly’s mayor in 1992. For the next four years, former Inquirer reporter Buzz Bissinger was given unparalleled access to the hellish obstacles Philadelphia (and all urban cities) faced as we struggled to survive. The result was Bissinger’s 1997 book A Prayer for the City, which depicted our mayor on his knees doing everything possible to save us. Although Rendell has not been mayor since 2000, as the ravages and deaths due to addiction increase yearly, his recent letter to the editor finds him still on his knees for his beloved city. Rendell supports overdose prevention centers, where people using drugs can do so under the supervision of trained staff, out of the view of children and families.

Two centers in New York City confirm what data collected worldwide have shown: When sites are offered, overdose fatalities are decreased, and the areas where they exist show no increase in crime. In his letter, Rendell asked that City Council not do away with the possibility of having these centers in Philadelphia, but instead follow Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s wise guidance and trust the decision to individual communities. The next day, a misguided Council, lacking awareness or compassion, effectively killed a long and dedicated effort to finally bring overdose prevention centers to Philadelphia. In doing so, it ignored yet another prayer for our tormented city.

SaraKay Smullens, Philadelphia

I’m looking at this coverage of business thefts going on in the city. Categorizing these crimes as “looting” is a bit misleading. Sure, one definition of a looter is “a plunderer,” but I think we falsely link looting with protesting. These plunderers are just a giant gaggle of grifters. They are opportunists. Really, they are organized crime. I am calling on District Attorney Larry Krasner to charge them accordingly. Fifty people don’t just show up at a closed store with bags, masks, sledgehammers, and crowbars on a random Thursday night.

Jayson Massey, Nicetown

The recent articles on executive salaries were interesting, and people have a right to be outraged. As people struggle to pay rent and buy groceries, your report on these executive compensation packages is eye-popping. Union workers are walking the picket line for better pay and a living wage as executives sit back and watch. Nationally, there is a great debate about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Let’s compare some executive salaries with the common worker.

Minimum wage at $15 an hour for a 40-hour week equals $600 per week. Compensation for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia CEO Madeline Bell was $7.7 million, which is $3,850 per hour or $154,000 a week. Hollywood CEO pay was recently reported at $23 million, which is $11,500 an hour or $460,000 per week. How did these executive compensation packages get so out of line? What could CEOs possibly do for that kind of money? What kind of value-added services do they provide that they should make that kind of money? If a line worker is making $30 an hour and the CEO is making $11,500 an hour, that is almost 384 times as much. That is just wrong.

Susan Thompson, Media, pthompson612@gmail.com

In my experience, Republicans have a natural advantage in elections because they are perceived as the “adults in the room.” They appeal to a societal conditioning to accept authoritarians. Our experiences start in the family where our parents are in charge — fully in charge. We experience extreme authority then, but we see this as good because we depend on them to care for us. Then, off to school we go — also a very authoritarian environment, where the teacher is in charge. Republicans have recognized this authoritarian bias for years.

The common Republican mode of leadership works because we associate strong with being right, as in “truth, justice, and the American way.” Is it any wonder, then, that recent polling shows that roughly 70% of Republican voters think Joe Biden and the Democrats stole the election? That’s even after Donald Trump’s team lost all its election fraud court cases. They had zero evidence, and judges chastised them for even bringing the cases forward.

These Republican voters were brought up the same way I was, and the same way you were. We’ve all been conditioned that Republicans are strong, and therefore right. Well then, with Trump as president and the GOP in charge of most swing states and their election processes, how were the Democrats able to ingeniously steal the election? The answer is, of course, that they didn’t. One must wonder how this cognitive dissonance will play out among election deniers. Will this push them over the edge or draw them back to sanity? We can only hope. The next presidential election is barely a year away.

David W. Williams, Media

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