Is Sherman also for the birds?

Forest Hills: It is hypocritical to exempt statues of Northern Civil War generals from scrutiny, and removal. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman did not believe in “Negro equality,” and he declined to employ black troops in his armies. Why does he merit a statue in Central Park? Sherman’s troops went on a rampage against helpless civilians, burning down homes and destroying and looting property. His sadistic policies created bitterness in southerners that continues to this very day. Removing Sherman’s statue from a place of honor in our city park is long overdue. Jan Fisher Fall River, Mass.: All this talk by so-called anti-racists about tearing down monuments and memorials they deem unacceptable makes me think of how ISIS used to take it upon themselves to blow up ancient statues that somehow didn’t jibe with their worldview.

Charles Winokoor

Make like a tree

Brooklyn: Removing the plaque on the tree Robert E. Lee planted at Fort Hamilton is a good first step: Now cut down the tree. For more than 100 years, we have let this tree grow in Brooklyn, put down long roots and grow tall, nature’s lingering attachment to slavery.The tree has to go and the place where it was needs to be purified. Schellie Hagan

Where does it end?

Belle Harbor: I don’t know yet how I feel regarding the Confederate statue issue, but if we agree to start out on this path, let’s consider: Should we seek to rename Breckenridge, Colo.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; Fort Hood, Tex.? How about the Russell Senate Office building in D.C. or the Strom Thurmond Courthouse in S.C.? In addition, there are hundreds of buildings, bridges and schools named after Sen. Robert Byrd, a KKK recruiter. We could go on and on, but where does this end? Malcolm X renamed himself to deny his slave name. This is worth serious discussion, not a brawl.

Shaun Reen

Just a traitor

Brewster, N.Y.: The other day our President stated that bringing down Robert E. Lee’s statue was changing history. Actually, it is correcting the myth of greatness that has flowed from the South for many years about their hero. Instead of comparing Lee to George Washington, maybe if the President had paid attention in eighth grade, he would have compared Lee to Benedict Arnold, who also left his U.S Army command to fight against the United States of America and the U.S. Army that he had given allegiance to. David Fruci

Accept history

Crossville, Tenn.: Why are we afraid of our past? More than 600,000 people died in our Civil War for a belief on both sides that their position was righteous. The South, being an agrarian society, needed slave labor to work the farms and plantations. Right or wrong, that is our history. Are those who died for southern principles any less worthy of remembrance and a place of honor in our history? I am writing this in a motel room at Appomattox Court House, Va. You know, the place where Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Ulysses S. Grant to effectively end the Civil War. This is history. It happened.

Blame the left

Brooklyn: Shame on Daily News editors for your headline suggesting that President Trump sympathizes with Nazis (“Sympathy for the devils,” Aug. 16). How dare you! The President rightly placed blame on all sides, but he was also right when he pointed out that the left was far worse in instigating that violence in Charlottesville, Va. You won’t name or identify those on the left, but I will! They were members of the Black Lives Matter movement, and along with them were their equally racist white appeasers.

Cecilia Rivera

Enemies of America

Brooklyn: It’s imperative to realize that when it comes to the alt-right, we’re not dealing with an unpopular “political ideology.” That’s akin to dismissing the beliefs of radical Islamic terror groups as mere political ideology. When it comes to the alt-right, we’re dealing with homegrown, domestic terrorists who now feel more emboldened than ever before. Although the overwhelming majority of Americans despise the alt-right, many of us still stop short of labeling them as terrorists. This is a grave error which demonstrates a failure to truly comprehend the full scope of the greatest evil we face today, exacerbated even further by sympathizers and enablers at the highest levels of our federal government.

Casey Gagnon

The sounds of silence

Brooklyn: I have seen nothing in the media, including your paper, regarding the lack of a response by Rep. Peter King and other congressional Republicans in New York State to Donald Trump’s moral equivalency comments on the neo-Nazi/white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. Why is that?

Robert Lazow

The whole system’s insane

Queens Village: I am a registered nurse who works with the mentally ill (“Man savagely slays his mother, sister and her friend with hammer,” Aug. 13). I have a loved one who suffers from mental illness as well. Part of the problem is the system is failing patients and their loved ones. There is no proper follow-up care, housing for the mentally ill or resources for the families of severely mentally ill individuals. This leads to medication non-adherence. Medication compliance is 70% of the treatment and the decrease of negative symptoms associated with the disease. The other 30% is intense therapy. Lawmakers have to change policies so people suffering from mental illness cannot refuse their medications. Because of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, today it is virtually impossible unless the patient signs consent. However, they usually do not because the individual has become psychotic, paranoid and homicidal due to lack of care.

Paulette McGee

A bitter birthday

Manhattan: Perhaps what the leaders of the Queens Museum found uncomfortable about commemorating the creation of the Israeli state is that it began with ethnic cleansing (“BDS on exhibit,” editorial, Aug. 17). About 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes into an exile which persists today, and an unknown number were killed. That this was planned and executed with great forethought by Ben Gurion’s government is documented in Ilan Pappe’s book “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.” Those in Gaza and the West Bank have lived under military occupation for the last 50 years, and conditions in Gaza are not fit for human life. Not only does Israel have no plans to ameliorate the situation, but they continue to steal occupied land with settlements. It is illegal and cruel. Hats off to those who have the courage to refuse to celebrate the anniversary of this endeavor. Ellen Isaacs

Keep on truckin’

Garden City, L.I.: Your editorial “Andrew crosses a bridge” (Aug. 15) stated that AAA and the trucking association were “on board” with the Move NY plan. While both the Trucking Association of New York and AAA have indeed worked with Move NY on a plan to fairly address the city’s gridlock and transportation funding challenges, that work has not resulted in legislation that either organization could support. DAILY NEWS Although the legislation does include provisions that were important to both organizations, there are many areas of concern that need to be addressed. It remains to be seen whether the governor’s proposal will contain the elements of Move NY that appealed to us: toll reduction on outer-borough bridges whose rates have increased far faster than inflation, and the promise of increased investment in the road and bridge network.

Kendra Hems, president Trucking Association of NY

John Corlett, legislative committee chairman, AAA NY

Thanks, Addiction Angel

Middle Village: Like Staten Island, Queens is in the throes of a very bad epidemic of drug use. My story is about my son, a recovering addict. He is clean for seven months, and every day I thank God that it was a good day. It started with an accident and prescribed pain medication Oxycodone. You don’t realize what is happening, then things start to change. Then things start to disappear: jewelry, money. And then it gets worse. When your child, who you love more than life, leaves the house, you pray you don’t get a call that they are beaten up, in the hospital or dead, and it just get worse each time! You don’t know where to turn to, who to speak to and you find yourself thinking it’s your fault! Then an angel comes into your life and you find you can breathe again. Alicia Reddy is that Angel! Elvira Piteo