Painting slurs on a NC building? I don’t know when racists will learn | Opinion

Racist vandalism

Thanks to The Observer for posting news June 29 of the Davidson vandalism that involved spray painting racist graffiti and slurs on a commercial building over the Juneteenth weekend.

Thanks to the Davidson police and Davidson town officials for making it clear that racial epithets are not welcome in our communities.

No thanks to the poor misguided souls who committed the crime. How sad that the lessons of systemic racism over the last 200 years still have not been learned by way too many people.

Pat Jobe, Forest City

Poor leadership

“Real leaders,” where are you? In this divisive contentious time, we need — we are desperate for — leaders who rise above the fray to work to bring us together, to find the common good and address the issues of our country.

In all levels of government and society we need men and women of honor and integrity. We need women and men who treat others with courtesy and respect, who look for common ground, build a consensus and move forward with solutions, rather than telling us how bad the other side is and espousing endless demagoguery.

We are innately better than what we have displayed in recent years. It’s time for “real leaders” to step up. We need you so we can leave a better country and world for those who follow.

Jay Vincent, Blowing Rock

US Supreme Court

Recent revelations of U.S. Supreme Court justices accepting lavish gifts from wealthy donors and claiming they have no bearing on their rulings or present no conflicts of interest goes against human nature. Based on their logic, I can only assume that corporations throughout the world gift prospective and current clients based solely on their altruism.

Robert Cloninger Jr., Gastonia

Conservative court

For years Democrats got their way with the U.S. Supreme Court because of its liberal majority. Now that there is a conservative majority, the Democrats are going crazy because they can no longer rule the roost. Just let the system play itself out. Liberals will be in charge again.

C. H. Hendricks, Charlotte

Regulate the court

It appears we have two Supreme Court Justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, who don’t know the meaning of “hospitality” — or integrity and ethics.

Just for the record, these justices are paid approximately $285,400 annually.

While I respect the accomplishments and intelligence of these guys, I have trouble that they took lavish gifts, trips and flights and they seemed to think they were above reporting these items.

The highest court in the land deserves to be investigated and then monitored and regulated.

Randall Lemly, Charlotte

Patriot’s paradise?

Regarding “New development claims to be a patriot’s paradise,” (June 20 Opinion):

Imposing “patriotism” by prescribing speech and actions like flying the U.S. flag is the opposite of freedom, of “E pluribus unum,” and of our guaranteed constitutional rights and our claimed national aspirations to liberty and justice for all.

“America First” is a phrase with roots in the racially and religiously bigoted neo-Confederate and pro-fascist movements of the first half of the 20th century, and has re-emerged in the patriarchal white and Christian nationalist Republican Party since 1980.

This new “1776 Gastonia” neighborhood is a “safe place” only for people who choose political-minority totalitarianism over democracy as the American way.

Bob Simmons, Huntersville

GOP and abortion

It seems a majority of misogynistic old white men in the GOP believe they alone are capable of determining a woman’s health needs, and that women alone are responsible for pregnancies.

If they insist on passing laws supporting their ignorance, I suggest that the following be added to any such law: All males between the ages of 14 and 65 are mandated to get a vasectomy which can only be reversed with permission of a panel of women from Planned Parenthood.

This would put an end to “unwanted” pregnancies, which they claim they are trying to achieve, but would unfortunately suggest that men might have something to do with pregnancies too.

Oh yes, and if the GOP is serious and not, as usual, just throwing around blame without real solutions, they might think about supporting sex education in high schools.

Michael L. Ham. Matthews

Female preachers

The Southern Baptist Convention claims it’s not biblical for women to be pastors.

Women were present when the Holy Spirit descended and everyone began to speak in tongues. Women were the first to tell the story of the resurrection. What would’ve happened had they kept silent?

I grew up in a Southern Baptist Church. Thankfully, I now attend Park Road Baptist Church. It has two of the best pastors I’ve ever known. One of them is a woman.

Dianne Mason, Matthews