Letters to the Editor—Extremism, Student Project, Child Tax Credit, Holocaust

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All that remains is to find candidates

Re: “The American Middle – Extremists on both sides are dividing Americans for power and profit. We can change that. Sunday notice.

Thank you for this editorial. I’ve been a long-time Republican, but over the past few years I’ve felt that there were no elected representatives at any level of government who reflected my views and beliefs.

Just as political commentator George Will put it, I didn’t quit the Republican Party, he quit me. Conversely, I could not align myself with a Democratic party always on the left.

In a world of growing political extremism, it is reassuring to know that many of my fellow citizens share my moderate views on so many important issues. It gives me hope to read that most Americans believe there is room for common ground and reasonable policy on such contentious issues.

What’s daunting are the nagging questions of where the moderate Republican and Democratic candidates are and how to get them elected in our polarized primary system.

I pray that America can still summon candidates of logic and reason who are not afraid of compromise and admit that there are many sides to complex problems. I also pray that the American community can muster the will to go to the polls and vote logically and reasonably.

John C. Holt, flint

Letters from home good start

Re: “Avoiding extremism is the secret to Dallas’ success – North Texas is a shining example of how cooperation and respect can get things done”, by Tom Leppert, Sunday Opinion.

Leppert said it well: “Losing sight of the real function of schools cannot end well.”

We have to go back to basics. Why send your child to school? What are your goals? Why? What are your child’s goals? Why?

This “timid” question has its roots in family history. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, communicating with each child, are the best sources for the stories that make up family history. Their letters should include their own dreams, their own goals for the child.

Such focus on goals should be done every year starting in the third year and continuing until graduation. Two simple writing projects a year can do that.

First, students should write letters to each parent asking for return letters with dreams for the child and stories from the family’s history.

The second exercise is once the letters are collected and read. They are brought to school to be placed in a self-addressed envelope with a letter that the student writes to themselves about their own thoughts and goals for their future.

Volunteer school time capsule postmasters store and return these envelopes annually. New letters are then written.

Now watch the school atmosphere change as students focus on their goals.

Bill R. Betzen, Dallas

Yes to the expansion of the child tax credit

Subject: “Expanding the Child Tax Credit”, by Martin G. White, Sunday Letters.

I agree with White’s letter on expanding the child tax credit. I’m a teacher. I see the students whose families are struggling to make ends meet and how difficult it is for them to concentrate in school. I see how it affects their academic performance and their general well-being in the classroom.

We are concerned about the shortage of teachers, and some believe that raising teacher salaries and/or lowering standards will help. What if it was as simple as helping families and children eat enough every day? What if it was about the state of children in the classroom, rather than what politicians think solves the problem?

I am willing to work for less pay if the children I serve are able to learn – which means they are in stable housing and have enough to eat. As White said, the Child Tax Credit has done a lot to help our children in 2021. Why not help children – and therefore schools and our society – for good?

Sarah Miller, St. Louis

Roosevelt could have helped

Re: “Challenging America’s role – Ken Burns’ new documentary reveals painful truths about ‘America and the Holocaust'”, by Michael Granberry, Sunday Arts & Life column.

This column on Ken Burns’ new Holocaust film said that “anti-Semitism – widespread by many, with aviation hero Charles Lindbergh among its most vocal practitioners – has narrowed the options for refugees hoping to escape. to the threat in Europe”.

But Lindbergh was not in charge of American immigration policy; President Franklin Roosevelt was. It was Roosevelt who decided to suppress immigration below what the existing law permitted; Lindbergh didn’t force him to. In fact, it’s likely that neither Lindbergh nor many other citizens would even have known if the president had allowed existing quotas to be filled.

By piling on excessively onerous regulations and requirements, the Roosevelt administration ensured that the annual quota of immigrants to the United States from Nazi Germany was only filled in one year during the Hitler era ( 1933-1945); and in the majority of those years it was less than 25% full. More than 190,000 quota places that could have been used for Jewish refugees remained unused. It wasn’t because of Lindbergh; this was because Roosevelt wanted to keep the immigration of Jewish refugees to a bare minimum.

Rafael Medoff, Washington, D.C.

Director, David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies

Bring the immigration bill to vote

Re: “Support the Immigration Bill”, by Audrey Maggio Monlezun, Thursday Letters.

Monlezun’s letter regarding immigration was perfect! Bill S.1358 introduced by Senator John Cornyn (and others) is an exceptional, common-sense bill that will begin to address immigration. He received little recognition and press.

As she mentioned, please contact Cornyn at cornyn.senate.gov to request that this bill be put to a vote.

Sharyn A Bledsoe, Dallas

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