Letters: KC readers discuss fear of terrorism, achieving equality and Lafayette Norwood
Living example
After Wednesday’s attack on our nation, which left elected officials and staff members at the mercy of others and forced people under desks and into safe spaces, I hope Sens. Roy Blunt and Josh Hawley have a better idea of how children feel during active shooter drills in our schools.
I implore our representatives in Congress to examine their fears from last week to consider how best to enact responsible gun legislation that calls for strenuous and extensive background checks including, but not limited to:
▪ Mental health checks
▪ Reasonable waiting periods
▪ Limits on the number of firearms and ammunition rounds that can be obtained by a household
Taking money from the National Rifle Association and furthering its agenda is a dangerous game. The next time this comes to a vote, I urge Sens. Blunt and Hawley to consider how they felt from the threats of armed lunatics and how small children feel when asked to hide from perceived threats, real or not.
Educators should never have to choose either their own health and safety or their students’.
- Marla Stout, Lee’s Summit
Truth revealed
Wednesday’s actions at the U.S. Capitol provided precise and detailed images of the people some politicians curry favor with. The people they choose to appeal to, to sway and to support tell us a lot about those politicians.
It is human nature to surround yourself with the people most like you. We can all try harder and do better to be our best selves.
- Rich Hartke, Kansas City
False comparison
Many are comparing the rioters in Washington, D.C., to those who have participated in Black Lives Matter protests.
But to me, the BLM folks simply want us to honor our principles — to be treated like every other American — whereas that mob storming the Capitol wanted to replace our democracy with rule by force, or fascism
Then again, perhaps we should thank this mob for revealing the true nature of Trumpism. Now that it’s been clearly exposed, we will soundly reject it, because it is, at its core, contrary to our founding principles.
Indeed, many in that crowd waved the battle flag of the old Confederacy. Doesn’t that flag, symbolic of rebellion and slavery, seem the perfect symbol for their movement?
Black Lives Matter activists, imperfect as their movement might be, ask us to honor our founding principles for inclusion. Those in Wednesday’s mob, by refusing to accept an election they lost, reject those principles, demanding the continued exclusion of the “other.”
That mob dishonored its country.
- Gregory Cenac, Weatherby Lake
Decision-making?
Please explain to me how you Missourians collectively removed Sen. Claire McCaskill from office and replaced her with Josh Hawley. What were you thinking?
- William E. Dolan, Jacksonville, Florida
Upon a star
I have one wish: I hope the Republican Party can do better than Josh Hawley in 2022.
- Ken Henderson, Kansas City
Let us grow
State-sanctioned violence against people of color is nothing new in this country. Regardless of the venue, people of color pay with their lives when the white mob gets angry. The infection of hate can only spread when it is embraced willingly, or ignored.
And so we have reached the crossroads, where hate intersects with patriotism. The point where we as a nation ask ourselves: Do the acts of the enraged mob that stormed the Capitol reflect American values?
Some may say yes, given that Lady Liberty has often worn a blindfold when her poor, tired and hungry were of color, women, homeless, gay or outspoken. Some may say no, given the tremendous progress we have made to overcome our shameful and bloody past.
However, the questions we really should ask are: What are our values as a diverse nation and what will our country become?
The greatest threat to our democracy is indifference to hate. As the renowned author and activist James Baldwin wrote: “People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.”
- Benita Johnson, Kansas City
Will be missed
I was saddened to read of Lafayette Norwood’s passing. (Jan. 4, 2B, “Former Jayhawks basketball assistant Norwood dies at 86”) I met Coach Norwood when he was coach of the Johnson County Community College men’s golf team during my years as course marshal at Ironhorse Golf Club, where the team played and practiced.
As Norwood followed his players on the course while I was making my rounds, we would stop and visit for a while. In addition to discussing golf and particular shots that he wanted his players to work on, we would also discuss college basketball, especially during March Madness, and the discipline required when coaching young men, both in golf and basketball.
I was intrigued by the fact that here was an African American man coaching, for the most part, white golfers in a Johnson County setting. He was so right for the job as, not only was he a true leader who set a fine example for his players, but also because he was a firm disciplinarian. I remember him reprimanding one of his players for being late to class, as well as instructing one to walk back 150 yards to rake a sand trap he had been in.
Lafayette Norwood was a fine gentleman and a class act.
- Austin L. Landreth, Belton
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: KC readers discuss fear of terrorism, achieving equality and Lafayette Norwood."