Wednesday letters: Is former Sheriff BJ Barnes so naive as to think that Donald Trump didn't want to take the 'perp walk'?

Former President Donald Trump steps off his plane as he arrives at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Aug. 24 in Atlanta.

Regarding the letter “Political theater” (Aug. 27):

Is former Sheriff BJ Barnes so naive as to think that Donald Trump didn’t want to take the “perp walk”?

Trump is all about political theater. He wants everyone to see him as a victim rather than the evil puppet master. He probably reveled in the knowledge that it was costing Fulton County thousands of dollars for his performance.

Barnes is right in that it would have been better handled in an airport hangar, but that would have removed Trump’s audience. An added benefit was that he got everyone to focus on him and to forget his political opponents’ debate the previous day.

Tennie Skladanowski

Greensboro

Dry your white woman tears. Repress your white male fragility. Of course you’re not responsible for slavery.You didn’t own slaves. Slavery is not yours to bear.

You do, however, bear the responsibility of fighting the continuing legacy of slavery today. Stand up for voting rights and fairly drawn voting maps. Fight for fully funded public schools and high-quality child care that works for all children. Demand a living wage for all Americans. Understand that Black men and women are killed by police at higher rates than white people, and that gun violence disproportionally affects minorities. Understand that restricting abortion access unfairly targets low-income people and minorities.

I know that there are numerous other examples, but you get the point, I’m sure.

Now work to make this country a safer place for them.

Our country has just marked the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington. You would think that we would be much further along, and to be sure, we were, but we are back-sliding.

Racial inequities in this country continue to mount with every Supreme Court ruling and every red-state policy passed. What are you doing about it? What stand are you taking? What will your legacy be when you pass on?

Have you ever wondered what you would have done during slavery? During Jim Crow? Look at your life now. What you are doing now is exactly what you would have done then. How do you wish to be remembered? Act on that starting now.

Kathy Kirkpatrick

Greensboro

I have a modest proposal that should solve the issue concerning loose leaf pick-up in Greensboro. You see, it’s not the leaves that are the problem. It’s not as if they appear out of nowhere, raked or blown out of heaven. No, they fall off trees which, let us face it, are the root cause and leaves me to wonder if we all wouldn’t be better off if we just cut them down.

Just think of how useful all that wood would be, creating a bounty of paper towels, toilet paper, furniture and fences. Not to mention loose-leaf notebooks.

Now I can hear the wailing of tree huggers about carbon dioxide and ozone. How trees provide shade. How poems are made by fools, and trees are made by God. And blah, blah. Well, boo-hoo. Trees also uproot, fall on houses and people, and catch on fire, killing wildlife and acres of vegetation.

Now they’re going to kill all us little old ladies who, because of the City Council, will be relegated to lugging 95-gallon cans filled with leaves up and down a hilly driveway. So I say the hell with trees.

I hope the City Council will consider my proposal. Whatever they decide, I am putting this old arthritic shoulder to the wheel. So, if you’ll excuse me, I think I hear my chainsaw calling.

Romaine Worster

Greensboro

I am a Jesse Wharton Elementary School parent and I enjoyed the front-page article about the school’s “towers” (“Students get connected,” Aug. 29). This is an impactful way for students to feel connected with their peers. But there is a population of students excluded from this “friendly competition.” They are students with disabilities. Why?

Many of them have what is termed behavior issues due to their disability such as ADHD or autism spectrum disorder. When they do not “win” or are not rewarded as their peers, they are excluded and shamed into feeling as if they are not worthy of receiving the same accolades as their friends.

A recent investigation by WCNC Charlotte identified North Carolina as leading the nation in suspending students with disabilities due to the chronic underfunding of public education over decades by the state legislature. When the “tower games” do not go the way that a very excited student on the autism spectrum is hoping that they will, they are removed from the “friendly competition” and forced to sit away from their peers and all of the fun. This is a horrendous way to treat anyone simply for being who they are.

I implore the men and women who we pay to work for us to fully fund traditional public schools immediately. I also want all students with disabilities to have the same opportunities as their neurotypical peers. This can only be accomplished when school leaders accept that good behavior looks different from student to student.

Donna Patricia Ward

Greensboro

Instead of passing a budget to fund our public schools for 2023-24, the North Carolina General Assembly has chosen to once again attack our public schools. On Aug. 16, the N.C. General Assembly overrode five gubernatorial vetoes and passed additional legislation. The legislation discriminates against LGBTQ+ students and families and further dismantles our already-suffering North Carolina public school system by siphoning funds and resources away from traditional public schools and giving it away to unaccountable private and charter schools.

SB 49, HB 574, and HB 808 are a direct attack on our students, teachers and caregivers who are LGBTQ+ community members. These new laws create dangerous conditions for students and workers in our schools when lawmakers’ top priority should be keeping our kids and public school workers safe.

HB 219 and HB 618 allow expansion and further deregulation of charter schools at the expense of public resources. Legislation like this is a direct attack on our public schools. Public dollars belong in public schools.

The vast majority of North Carolinians support their local public schools and want their schools funded appropriately. The General Assembly has chosen to engage in the culture wars rather than doing the job they were elected to do: pass a state budget.

Educators and parents alike want our students to receive equitable and excellent education. Our students need and deserve the freedom to learn in an inclusive, culturally responsive public education system in which every student and educator is treated with dignity and respect, no exceptions.

Joanna Pendleton

Greensboro

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