Oh, the irony of 2 front page Bank of America headlines | Opinion
Am I the only one who sees the irony on the April 1 front page of the Observer? Was it an April Fools’ joke? “Bank of America Settles Epstein victim’s lawsuit for $72.5M” was the top story and “Bank of America CEO ‘Brian the Lion’ gets UNC Charlotte honor” was right below it. No accountability and money over morals.
Ronny Reddig, Charlotte
Not there yet on economic mobility
The author is an at-large member of the Mecklenburg Board of Commissioners:
Charlotte was ranked 50th out of 50 in economic mobility by Raj Chetty in 2013 — a wake-up call for our community. It forced leaders to confront an uncomfortable truth: in Charlotte, if you are born poor, particularly if you are Black, the odds are you will remain poor.
Leading On Opportunity was created to drive an ambitious, necessary effort to change that reality. Housed at the Foundation for The Carolinas, it produced a bold framework to dismantle barriers to upward mobility. Nearly a decade later, Charlotte moved from 50th to 38th. That is progress, but let us be clear about what it means. For low-income Black children, outcomes shifted from roughly $20,000 to $23,000 in adult income. A $3,000 gain over two generations. That is not transformation. That is stagnation with a slight uptick.
The reality is that many strategies from the original report were only partially implemented or never brought to scale. To declare success, or to wind down Leading On Opportunity now, risk sending the wrong message — that incremental change is enough. It is not.
Arthur Griffin, Charlotte
Adequate school funding?
Thank goodness the NC Supreme Court said the legislature cannot be required to “adequately” fund public schools. The keyword is adequately. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, with 10% of the state’s schools, has proven that adequate is meaningless. CMS school administrators’ idea of good student outcomes is allowing 2024-25 graduation rates of 61.5% and 69.5% at Garinger and Chambers, while four other traditional high schools have 95% or higher. It’s not the money, it’s the methods. Adequate is supposed to mean success.
Bolyn McClung, Pineville
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
So far in her brief career on the US Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has come under fire from her two other liberal colleagues, Sotomayor and Kagan, for being the lone dissenter in two 8-1 decisions in 2025 and this week, respectively. It seems Jackson’s lack of strong legal credentials and wanting to create law versus interpreting law is a major weak spot for her.
Let’s not forget when Biden had the opportunity to choose a justice, he proudly claimed as his first qualification she would be a Black woman. Clearly a DEI selection, Jackson continues to tarnish Biden’s already trashed legacy.
Floyd Prophet, Kannapolis
Trump and Iran
It is ironic President Trump picked April Fool’s Day to reassure us that the Iran “excursion” is nothing to worry about. Many Americans remain concerned.
After our bombers took out some nuclear sites he claimed that Iran’s nuclear program was obliterated, but now he claims they were weeks away from building a bomb. He says the closing of the Hormuz Strait is not our problem; other countries will have to deal with that. Oil prices will fall despite the widening Mideast conflict he triggered, which caused the world market to raise prices for all of us despite America’s energy independence. He also claimed that killing former Iranian leaders caused regime change despite the Islamic Republic’s continued survival and the ongoing arrests and killing of protesters.
If we believe all of the above, the April Fools’ joke is on us.
Vincent Keipper, Concord