Letters: Readers discuss Shawnee Mission schools safety pin policy, Trump and Clinton
Safety pins
Shawnee Mission School District Superintendent Jim Hinson and other district officials made a very wrong (and likely illegal) decision banning the wearing of safety pins by teachers, employees or students.
This symbol is not political. As worn by a teacher, it may provide a clear signal to a frightened or threatened student that the teacher is quickly willing to work for their safety.
Perhaps Mr. Hinson is choosing to make it political because he fears that the district’s ability to keep students safe is challenged. It is. All he needs to do is look around the country and see what is happening on school campuses nationwide. Children of color, Muslim children and children from households not voting for the president-elect are at great risk. I fear for their safety and believe this will all get worse before it gets better.
Mr. Hinson, quit wasting your time and district resources in a legal battle regarding a sign of peace and safety.
Parry Sevra
Mission Hills
The long view
Since the election, I’ve been struggling, grieving, and grasping for hope. I was shell shocked by the election results and disillusioned that a person with Trump’s character and temperament could be elected president.
Almost everything I’ve come to care about and believe in, all the progress that has occurred in the political sphere during my lifetime, is now in jeopardy of being unraveled. I keep waking up at night hoping that I am awakening from a nightmare that is not real.
I think the progressive movement in the U.S. could survive 4 years of a Trump presidency. But I am more concerned about the two or three conservative Supreme Court justices he might appoint, who would influence American politics for decades.
A much greater concern is Trump’s denial of anthropogenic climate change, which must be addressed sooner rather later if we are to bequeath a habitable planet to future generations of all species — including our own. The laws of physics and thermodynamics don’t wait or compromise because of political inaction.
It has been said the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. I hope and pray that someday it will again continue to be so.
Jerry Rees
Leawood
The Donald is not going to pursue charges against Hillary because, just as FBI Director Comey said, there is nothing there to charge.
The Donald will not, in his wildest imagination, be able to produce the promised middle class good paying jobs for the rust belt states that got him elected.
The Donald’s nominee for the Supreme Court will not necessarily vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, let alone marginalize it.
The Donald’s nominee to the Supreme Court may well be neutralized by the vote of Justice Kennedy.
Hillary is leading in the popular vote count by 2 million votes. Clearly, the Donald does not have any kind of a mandate from those that voted in this year’s presidential election. As for the 90 million eligible voters who chose not to participate?
According to a recent New York Times story, experts in legal ethics say the Donald’s businesses continuing to engage in arrangements with entities controlled by foreign governments and people with ties to them “could easily run afoul of the Emoluments Clause” of the United States Constitution (Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2).
E. Eugene Harrison
Mission
This story was originally published December 1, 2016 at 11:32 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss Shawnee Mission schools safety pin policy, Trump and Clinton."