The Open Forum

History courses, taught in our schools, should just present the facts. I grew up in Tulsa, Okla., attending a Catholic School from first through eighth grade and a large public high school. Not one word regarding the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 was ever mentioned in my 12 years of history classes ranging from 1956 through 1968.

This horrible event was completely covered up. If informing students that a white mob burned down 35 square blocks of a black neighborhood, leaving a death toll estimated between 75 and 300, is critical race theory, then I’m all for it. History lessons are not intended to be a “guilt trip.” Just tell us what happened.

Really? That’s saying that older patients who are vaccinated but sick rank lower than younger unvaccinated patients who have willfully ignored the threat of getting the disease and infecting others. So who gets punished in this worst-case scenario? Older people who have done the right thing to protect themselves and the community.

This isn’t merely ageism at its worst. It’s insane.

“Biden: Families of separated children deserve compensation,” Nov. 7 news story

As a moderate Democrat, thinking that our federal government and its leadership are considering compensating families who were attempting to enter this country and had their children displaced from them does not sit well with what I feel are the values of this country. Granted, what was done goes against what I feel are the values of this country, but we are also ignoring the values of how our citizens are treated.

We have families that struggle to make ends meet to take care of their families. We have to fund free breakfast/lunch for kids in our schools because this may be their only meals. We have homeless on our streets separated from their families.

We are providing refuge for individuals from Afghanistan with housing while our own are being evicted from their homes and possible separation from families.

When is this country’s leadership going to prioritize our citizens first rather than shelling out tax dollars to outsiders?