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KKK legacy still plagues South
With all due respect to Steve Heimel (ADN, Aug. 25), I disagree that the Ku Klux Klan arose due to the unfair treatment of the South during Reconstruction. The KKK was the tool of wealthy Southern planters who found themselves "robbed" of their "property" by the Emancipation Proclamation, thus, unable to harvest their huge fields. They also felt robbed of their access to markets by the wartime destruction of the railroads. They would lose their property if forced to pay taxes to support schools for the newly freed slaves, or pay fair wages to former slaves, so they created the KKK to scare new schoolteachers out of their districts and force the former slaves to learn their place.
Thus, the South has remained these 150- plus years a place of low taxes and limited public education, with huge disparity between the rich and the poor.
— Frank Cahill
Anchorage
Protestant ferries in Alaska?
My wife and I are winding up a wonderful trip to Alaska. Alaskans are warm, hospitable, and helpful. And Alaska itself is an unending display of spectacular landscapes.
I was surprised to find the official religion of the Alaska Marine Highway System is Protestant Christianity. All the cabins on the Matanuska and Kennicott are stocked with Protestant Bibles.
Does the Establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution not apply in Alaska? Does
AMHS realize that endorsing one particular sect is not only unconstitutional, but potentially offensive to others?
— Louis Cohen
San Diego, California
Weapons change free speech
John Fischback, ("Running Scared," ADN, Aug. 27), should go soak his head; he's clearly running a little hot. To say the legal, though racist, Charlottesville protesters, carrying shields and weapons, were the innocent victims in this month's violence strains credulity beyond repair. When Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out, did he carry a shield and a weapon? Was Abraham Lincoln armed when he delivered his First Inaugural Address? Did Jesus need a shield to make his point? No, sir.
Shields and personal weapons are a part of free speech like an accordion is a part of moose hunting. If you want to assert the merits of your position, you bring a crowd and a megaphone; shields and weapons serve different purposes.
By the way, which side suffered the injuries and fatality?
— Scott Walker
Anchorage
Begich knows he shouldn't run
I believe Mark Begich is a sincere and principled man, one who genuinely has much left to offer Alaska. But it's hard to see much more than selfish ego and a blind desire to hold high-level public office at work in his current contemplation of a gubernatorial run.
Why blind? Because there are literally only two ways a Democrat wins high office in Alaska; either there's (yet another) scandal on the Republican side, or some crackpot tea party member splits the ticket on the right.
Why selfish? Because if he runs against Gov. Bill Walker he'll accomplish nothing but splitting the moderate vote, guaranteeing a return to a completely GOP-run state government.
He, of all people, knows this. He got his Senate seat in the first place thanks to a Republican scandal that drove right-leaning moderates away from the GOP. Once a little time had passed, though, they forgot all about that — and his fairly decent senatorial record — and happily booted him out for a Republican — one who was barely qualified to describe himself as an Alaskan, no less.
Please think long and hard before running this time around, Mr. Begich. Do you really want to return us to a state government that represents only oil companies and other business interests?
— Ken Higgins
Anchorage
Use 'wall' funds to help Texans
As you return to Washington, D.C., I strongly urge you to advocate that the billions of dollars President Donald Trump wants to build a border wall be used to rebuild the flood-ravaged communities of Texas.
— Jackie Pflaum
Anchorage
Amend Constitution to save PFD
It's official. The Permanent Fund dividend has no constitutional protection. The Alaska Supreme Court has stated on Aug. 25 in Wielechowski v. State and PF Corp., "the Legislature's use of Permanent Fund income is subject to normal appropriation and veto budgetary processes." The PFD has already been slashed. It is foolish to think the Legislature and governor will protect the PFD if it has no constitutional protection.
For politicians, it is the path of least resistance to effectively impose what amounts to a regressive tax on the most vulnerable residents of Alaska — the ones with no voice and no lobby. They will take the PFD from the most economically vulnerable Alaskans before imposing fair, broad-based taxes on the more wealthy.
The Supreme Court stated the only way to fix this was "another constitutional amendment." Senate Joint Resolution No. 1, introduced, but not voted on, in the 2017 session, proposes a constitutional amendment which would, among other things, establish a "program of dividend payments to state residents." However, before the people of Alaska can vote on a constitutional amendment, the Legislature must approve it by a two-thirds majority in each chamber. Thus far, the Legislature seems to have no desire to proceed with a constitutional amendment.
Paul Jenkins (ADN, Aug. 26) suggested ADN, in order to be a better local paper, should "be fighting for the little guy … and, at times, step up to serve as the community conscience." Protecting the "little guy's" Permanent Fund dividend through a constitutional amendment is such a cause.
— William Maxey
Anchorage
Flags can twist patriotic pride
Steve Heimel (ADN, Aug. 25) defends displays of the so-called Confederate battle flag (there were several versions) as celebrating the memory of the sacrifice which men fighting under it were killed and maimed.
I respectfully suggest it would be equally appropriate to display the battle flag of World War II's 3.SS-Panzer division, Totenkopf (Death's Head), to celebrate the sacrifices that unit made in four years of war against the Reds on the eastern front. I know of nothing to suggest those who volunteered to serve the SS were any less patriotic than the Confederate volunteers, or, for that matter, the conscripts sucked into that force, who were more or less committed to their country's cause than the Confederate conscripts.
The German people show what they make of Heimel's logic by consigning any group marching with such a banner to the nearest jail.
— James Johnston
Anchorage
Back-to-school menu has flaws
With the new school year upon us, parents turn their attention to school clothes, school supplies, and school food. Yes, school food.
More than 31 million children rely on school meals for their daily nutrition, which too often consists of highly processed food laden with saturated fat. Not surprisingly, one-third of our children have become overweight or obese. Their early dietary flaws become lifelong addictions, raising their risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
To compound the problem, the Trump administration has loosened Obama's 2010 school lunch rules calling for whole grains, fat-free milk, and reduced salt content. The rules had an 86 percent approval rating.
Fortunately, many U.S. school districts now offer vegetarian options.
More than 120 schools, including the entire school districts of Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, New York, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Missouri, Los Angeles, Oakland, California, Philadelphia and San Diego have implemented "Meatless Monday."
As parents, we need to involve our own children and school cafeteria managers in promoting healthy, plant-based foods in our local schools.
Entering "vegan options in schools" in a search engine provides lots of useful resources.
— Art Doddermyer
Anchorage
EPA needs Alaska's support
President Donald Trump wants to cut a third of the budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These cuts mean subsidies to Alaska from the federal government will be stopped, and we Alaskans will have to pay 100 percent of the costs of mandatory monitoring of our drinking water and air quality.
No more safe drinking water and sewage treatment in rural Alaska. No more Code Red alerts in Fairbanks or Anchorage that warn us when the air is too dangerous to go outdoors.
Please contact Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to ask them to block Trump's attempt to gut the EPA.
— Lorraine Eckstein, Ph.D.
Anchorage
The views expressed here are the writers' own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a letter under 200 words for consideration, email letters@alaskadispatch.com, or click here to submit via any web browser. Submitting a letter to the editor constitutes granting permission for it to be edited for clarity, accuracy and brevity. Send longer works of opinion to commentary@alaskadispatch.com.