Congress must act against border crisis
While the conditions under which the asylum seekers are being kept in the facilities at the southern border area are inhumane and an affront to the ideals of America, Rep. Alexandria OcasioCortez and the other members of Congress who have visited the facilities are missing the point. To the president and his aides such as White House adviser Stephen Miller, the cruelty is a feature, not a bug. This administration won’t be shamed into improving conditions in the facilities.
They revel in the images of the horrible conditions which human beings they regard as drug dealers and rapists are being subjected to. The only way the White House will improve the conditions and live up to the ideals of the Statue of Liberty is for Congress to take concrete actions. Words and speeches won’t do it. Subpoenas, hearings, appropriations and legislation will. Craig Griffin, Berkeley
Inhumane conditions
I have been deep in thought and horror in reading about the condition in the concentration camps for adults and for children. I believe that the lack of sanitation, nutrition, sleeping space, etc. is all part of a larger picture. When you create situations that force people to be dirty and unkempt, you are actively dehumanizing them.
Besides eating away at the morale of the individuals, you also create another effect. Their horrific state makes it easier for the guards (whom you and I pay) to dehumanize their “prisoners” and therefore treat them like animals. It reinforces the notion that they are less than human since the dirtier and more unkempt they are, the less like us they look. Once you deny the humanity of a people, it is much easier to treat them cruelly as they are no longer seen as humans. Judith Lesner, Oakland
Mural compromise
It’s become apparent that George Washington High School is no longer an appropriate site for the controversial mural, and I don’t think that students of color are in need of a teachable moment about oppression. But you can’t simply destroy a historic artwork, particularly given the threatened and real destruction of Works Progress Administration murals from the other end of the political spectrum.
The school board risks looking like Nazis or the Taliban, and history will not be kind to this decision. A reasonable compromise would be to move it. Frescoes can be moved; it is not a preservation best practice, but it is possible, and was once common practice. It is expensive and damaging, but better than destruction or censorship. We have an active and deeppocketed art patronage community here; someone is just going to need to step up.
Greta de Groat, Castro Valley
Change school’s name
If the mural, part of San Francisco’s artistic heritage, is painted over, the name of the school should also be changed. My folks and I went on a boat tour of Mount Vernon years ago, and I noticed there were no African Americans aboard, the reasons for which became abundantly clear as soon as we saw the slave quarters.
Scratching the surface of American history, which Victor Arnautoff clearly did visavis George Washington in his mural (which I hope to see soon before it’s destroyed), raises disquieting and sometimes horrifying issues. I’m 75 years old and learned very little of this in the whitewashed versions presented in school, and have spent a lifetime trying to grapple with what I now think of as a form of brainwashing; one would hope that San Francisco, rather than trying to protect students from the issues raised in the mural, would use it as a teaching moment going forward. Judith Kucera, San Francisco
Don’t bury history
Regarding “Universities target relics of oppression” (Page One, July 4): So now we’re going to remove a California mission bell because we don’t like another part of history. What comes next? Will we remove likeness of past presidents from our currency and coinage because they were slave owners? Will we tear down the California missions because they may have been built by forced labor? Why do we study history? It’s because if we don’t know of our mistakes of the past, we may repeat them in the present or future. Wake up. Let’s face facts, not bury them.
Gerald Graham, Walnut Creek
Not about unity
When President Trump — a selfdescribed nationalist who has insulted world leaders and political opponents, labeled the free press the enemy of the people and stonewalled Congress’ attempts to conduct oversight of his executive branch — called for unity during his reality TVworthy Fourth of July speech, who was he really addressing except for his redcapped Make America Great Again supporters? Journalists should give his speech a Best Fake News of 2019 award.
Esteban Hernandez, San Francisco
Better use for hot dogs
Regarding “We have a wiener! San Jose’s Chestnut eats 71 hot dogs” (Nation, July 5): Congratulations to San Jose’s Joey Chestnut for winning a 12th title at Nathan’s Famous annual July Fourth hot dog eating contest in Coney Island, New York.
However, I also hope that Nathan’s, which garners lots of publicity from this event, is ensuring that for every hot dog being consumed by its competitive eating contestants, there is another one being donated to a local soup kitchen, which feeds hungry people who are homeless. Fiona MacPherson, San Jose