Thanks for State Fair’s support
Re: “Making amends in South Dallas — History dotted with segregation, uprooted families, other injustices,” Sept. 28 news story.
This is a great story, however you missed another great part of that story. For eight years that I personally know of, the State Fair has been a very generous and willing partner in helping to get the Juanita Craft House open.
In addition to the Juanita Craft scholarship every year, the State Fair produces and sponsors the Juanita Craft Humanitarian Awards (coming Oct. 12). They have provided funding for food, refreshments and decorations for several events on the Craft House renovation journey.
They made a generous donation, and in August 2024 they sponsored the bus that transported supporters to Austin to lay a new headstone on Craft’s grave.
Opinion
So in addition to the things the reporter mentioned, I would like to add that the State Fair of Texas has been an absolutely wonderful partner in helping to further the legacy of Juanita Craft, a pillar of the community who we all loved.
Patricia A. Perez (Craft kid), Dallas
Look out for others right now
I found myself tearing up every day on the days preceding the shutdown and since it has happened. What is happening here?
I feel terrible for people who will be furloughed. I am angry for the people who will lose their jobs because of political bullying. But I think it is important to protect the Affordable Care Act benefits that are important to millions of people from all parties.
Congress has to get together to find a path forward — before any shutdown is lifted. I hate to say that, but I don’t feel that anything would be negotiated if it is lifted. Sad but true.
But until that happens, there is something for caring people to do. Reach out to provide a temporary job to federal employees who are losing their jobs with the stroke of Russell Vought’s pen. Offer to volunteer if someone needs help. Donate to help fund programs that will come up short during this time.
This is what real Americans do. We actually care about others and not just ourselves.
Gail Hill, Garland
Americans deserve better
The government shutdown is more than a political standoff. It is a direct threat to the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Americans. For federal workers, families relying on services and communities depending on contracts, the consequences will be felt within days.
Layoffs and shuttered offices are not abstract bargaining chips; they mean lost paychecks, disrupted health care and economic ripple effects across the nation.
Both parties bear responsibility for putting the public first. Health care funding is essential, but so is maintaining a functioning government.
Hard-line tactics and “maybe later” promises cannot replace compromise and urgency. Americans deserve better than repeated crises.
Congress and the White House must act swiftly — not to score political points, but to keep faith with the people they serve. Congress, do your job!
Craig C. Roshaven, Fort Worth
What ‘U.S.’ meant to my dad
My father was born in 1890 in North Carolina, so he absorbed the racist view that white people were superior to any others. He passed some of that on to me, but I finally overcame it sometime after I was 20 years old.
He was smart. He taught himself about architecture, studied construction and engineering, and ran his own architecture, engineering and construction company for at least 30 years.
He hired many workers, white and Black, many of whom he helped beyond the business requirements. No one today would call him “woke” the way that term is used by the political right.
He definitely was a racist (never a mean or cruel racist), but in the 1950s he had a little picture on the wall of his office. It showed several dogs of different sizes and colors: small, middle-sized and large; black, tan, orange, blue and white. The caption on it was, “U.S. means US, all of us.”
When you think about the political opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion, think about that picture.
George W. Batten Jr., Houston
I saw no ‘war-ravaged city’
My first visit to Portland, Ore., was just a few weeks ago, on a Pacific Northwest vacation. What I saw all around the city, and downtown, was mostly positive. A beautiful waterfront setting, world-class public parks and gardens, the bustling world’s-largest bookstore and fine, informal dining in walkable neighborhoods and quirky food pods. Sure, more tattoos, piercings and differently colored hair than we usually see around here. Legal marijuana. And homelessness, though hard to say if more than here.
What I did not see was a “war-ravaged city” where “life is hell,” in the words of our president. My own eyes tell me that the rationale for deploying troops to Portland for law enforcement purposes is false.
There is nothing approaching a rebellion that might legally allow such action. Why the false narrative? To stoke further political division? To normalize the use of the military in a law enforcement role that our warriors do not train for and that pits them against our own citizens?
The threat to use troops in Portland and elsewhere for policing is unprecedented, wrong and dangerous. It is past time to demand that it stop.
Patrick Cowlishaw, Dallas/Lake Highlands
Military not a lab
Re:“Hegseth’s ‘Warrior Ethos’ Misses Target — Focus on physical appearance, strength doesn’t reflect evolving nature of conflicts,” Thursday editorial.
I think you are nitpicking. Why can’t fitness and knowledge exist in one person? I suspect your problem is with other matters being stressed. From experience in the Air Force, I know that women were allowed to slide because of a lack of physical strength. We definitely do not need the military becoming more of a laboratory for social problems like wokeness and the trans issue.
Charles Hunter, El Paso
Interesting lack of uproar
I am surprised there is not more uproar over the level of disrespect that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth showed the senior officers in the U.S. military.
The implication in their level of distrust is that these individuals are without honor in serving our nation. Clearly, the ones without honor are the accusers Trump and Hegseth.
I will not be surprised if there is an increase in retirements at many levels because of the administration’s lack of honor and integrity.
Kenneth R. Bernstein, Dallas