ENOUGH, MR. BUSH!
Now that our country’s leader has concluded his brief visit
to our beloved area, I’m left with questions:
Why did you come here? What did you accomplish (other than
an attempt at a feel-good media event)? What was the financial cost to our
community and the taxpayers?
And most importantly, why couldn’t you make the effort to
visit our veterans at the Canandaigua VA hospital, a mere half-mile from your
main, invitation-only event?
Your actions spoke volumes. You wouldn’t honor the men who did answer their call to duty, and your
current budget proposal cuts veterans’ health benefits.
March 19 was the three-year anniversary of the war in Iraq.
Here are some other numbers for you to contemplate:
American military casualties in Iraq:
2,313 since the war began, 1856 in combat. American wounded: officially:
17,044, Estimated: 18,000 to 48,100. US military deaths in Afghanistan:
271 (source: http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/).
Iraqi civilian casualties: minimum, 33,679; maximum, 37,795;
some estimates put the figure closer to 100,000 innocent Iraqi lives lost as a
direct result of this insanity. (Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net.) “We don’t
do body counts” — General Tommy Franks, US Central Command.
It’s time for Americans to demand that some deadlines be put
in place; that the administration abandon this “stay-the-course”
mentality and embrace the fact that not only does our battle in Iraq have no connection to the 9-11 attacks but
the cost of this war, both in lives lost and financially, is reprehensible.
It’s time to make a concrete plan to bring our troops home. At
the same time, we cannot leave Iraq
in its current state. Our leaders need to keep their promise to the people
whose lives we have altered so drastically and help restore their
infrastructure. They don’t deserve what we’ve done to them.
Take action: write to your representatives, write to
Washington, call them, e-mail them, and tell them enough is enough!
Rachel Miller,
Canandaigua
PERPETUATING RACISM
In her letter about “Acting White” (“Black and White,” The
Mail, March 1,) Noel France makes some good points, but falls short in
discussing the complex issue of race within the United States.
I can’t speak with authority about white or biracial people.
However, there is absolutely no doubt that where African Americans are
concerned, “black” may not be the “sole identifier,” but it
is clearly the most dominant one.
Those of us who are conscious of the pervasive nature of
institutionalized and individualized racism are also keenly aware that the vast
majority of those who control the cultural systems of the US do, and probably
always will, see us as “black” before they recognize any other
attributes that we may possess. Many African Americans are clear about the
necessity of facing this reality, and do not appreciate it when white people
mistakenly believe they are paying us a compliment by proclaiming that they do not
see skin color.
France is incorrect that “black does not even
accurately describe skin color.” Millions of human beings are indeed
black. In fact, some are what many of us refer to as “jet-black.” My
father, and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and associates
fit this accurate, culturally oriented description.
France is correct about the “need to challenge what it
means to be black, what it means to be white, and what it means to use color to
describe our state of being.” At the same time, it is even more important
— particularly for black people — to remain acutely cognizant that this
“need” has gone unfulfilled for well over 400 years.
The bottom line is that focusing more on
“commonality” than on “difference” serves to perpetuate widespread,
deep-seated denial and “racist oppression.” That is to say,
downplaying or attempting to ignore problems such as institutionalized and
individualized racism (based on skin color) helps (whether intentional or not)
to guarantee its perpetuation.
Howard J. Eagle, Rochester
IRAQ’S RESULTS
The struggle of the Iraqi
people for the right to run their own countrywill probably result in this:
The US government will be
forced to withdraw from Iraq after untold violence against the Iraqi people.The American middle class will continue to erode under the
present US government’s
policies. Americans’ lack of
understanding of the Bush’s imperialist
policies will manifest itself in a move to a fascist or a totalitarian
evolution of our country.And finally, everyone from the poorest to the
richest in America will suffer the
consequences of accepting what is now happening to our land.
Either we as a
people take back the values of justice or we will
sink in the sands of historical failure. We must elect honest people to lead us, people who don’t give false
slogans about freedom, but who
truly care about fighting injustice and hatred andwho motivate us through their example of decent behavior toward other countries and ourselves.
Jack Disraeli, Norris Drive, Rochester
WRITING TO CITY
We welcome and encourage readers’ letters for publication.
Send them to: themail@rochester-citynews.com or The Mail, City Newspaper, 250
North Goodman Street, Rochester14607.
Our guidelines: We don’t publish anonymous letters — and
we ask that you include your street name and city/town/village. We don’t
publish letters that have been sent to other media — and we don’t publish form letters generated by activist groups. While
we don’t restrict length, letters of under 350 words have a greater chance of
being published. We do edit letters for clarity and brevity. And in general we
don’t publish letters (or longer “op-ed” pieces) from the same writer more
often than about once every two months.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2006.
