Two opposing views on ‘Let’s Go Brandon’

Brandon Brown

Regarding “NASCAR nixes ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ sponsor and paint scheme,” (Jan. 6):

The controversy involving NASCAR driver Brandon Brown was self-inflicted. His statements have shown his true character and where his heart is. Brown has to know the subtlety and nuances of all of the buzzwords that crowd uses. The mere fact that he didn’t forcefully condemn the way the “Let’s Go Brandon” phrase was used (and continues to be used) indicates that he lends a sympathetic ear to them. He did nothing to reject that phrase.

Tom Stagg, Charlotte

Trump memes

Regarding “The danger behind ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ meme,” (Jan. 7 Opinion):

For four years, I saw “ByeDon” bumper stickers, as well as memes and paraphernalia making fun of Donald Trump’s orange hair, and “F--- Trump” propaganda. Hop on Amazon and search for “F--- Trump” and you’ll see pages of items. However, when the tides are turned, and some Americans are expressing their dislike for Joe Biden it is deemed unacceptable. Hypocrisy lives in the glass house.

Traci Cockerham, Charlotte

Gerrymandering

The Republican delegations in the N.C. House and Senate, as well as in the U.S. House and Senate, have been predominately white for years, including the Republican majorities that unilaterally adopted the gerrymandered districts in 2021.

The Republican Party in North Carolina is a white-identity political organization whose last attempt at a voter ID law was ruled as racially discriminatory and unconstitutional. In 2016, a federal appeals court said Republicans had written the law to intentionally “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.”

Pro-Republican gerrymandering is not merely partisan, it is by definition racial gerrymandering and should be struck down on that basis as unconstitutional.

Bob Simmons, Huntersville

Biden and tariffs

President Biden and former President Trump might not agree on much, but they agree on raising consumers’ prices.

Biden has continued Trump-era tariffs and protectionist trade policies. By restricting imports, American consumers are paying more for items like appliances.

Tariffs are not an efficient economic policy to protect American jobs. For example, Trump’s steel tariffs cost U.S. consumers $900,000 for every job saved.

Tariffs also raise the price of items imported that are used as inputs in domestic production, likely offsetting any domestic job gains. Businesses protected by tariffs are getting rich while consumers pay more.

Gabriel Russ, Lincolnton

Climate fixes

I am dismayed that simple things developers could do to reduce harm to the environment aren’t being done. Using light colored roofs instead of the standard charcoal is one. LEED-certified roofs are not that much more costly. Surely Charlotte developers understand this. Something so simple should be standard practice. We know big trees are the most effective removers of carbon. Developers could leave tree islands within projects for both aesthetic and environmental reasons.

Joan E. Gardner, Sherrills Ford

Student loan debt

Canceling student loan debt would be a terrible idea. What would this say to every person in the country? What about all those people who saved money for years and paid off their loans? Should they demand the government pay them back? Community colleges are very inexpensive and a good way to figure out what you want to do in life. It is past time to teach personal responsibility.

Dick Meyer, Charlotte

Wishful thinking

Cynthia Allen’s “What I found while traveling for Christmas,” (Dec. 28 Opinion) was appalling. Having no medical or epidemiological qualifications, she concluded that traveling was safe because her nuclear and extended families were at “low risk” for COVID and her Fort Worth community was where “COVID presents a rare inconvenience, but nothing to be feared.”

She said this despite that new COVID cases in Tarrant County are up 20% and the death rate in Fort Worth ranks third highest in Texas.

Her scornful comments about people who are “triple vaccinated and want to double mask at the grocery store” misses the point of community efforts to contain this virus. Even the asymptomatic can spread this deadly virus to others with compromised immune systems, comorbidities, or medical conditions which preclude vaccination. And every person who contracts COVID becomes a living vessel for it to once again mutate.

Allen wants everything to be normal. We all do. Simply being “over it” is dangerously wishful thinking, not a solution.

Kathleen Rackley, Charlotte

Gun violence

When is enough enough? A California child in a dressing room is killed by a stray police bullet because someone brought a gun into a store. Children are bringing loaded guns to school. Every day someone is shot — and it happens everywhere. We are becoming inured to the violence around us. Where are our legislators? Our parents? Where is the NRA on responsible gun laws? I despair for our country’s future.

Jane McLaughlin, Matthews