Letters submitted by BDN readers are verified by BDN Opinion Page staff. Send your letters to letters@bangordailynews.com
Teaching our children
As the public’s appetite for information grows, thinking critically is important to navigate through the weeds. Many media outlets continuously feed the public a singular narrative on topics, such as race. Why aren’t black voices like John McWhorter, Thomas Sowell, or Ayaan Hirsi Ali amplified more?
There is a group called Free Black Thought who don’t espouse any political agenda, but only offer viewpoints that are not normally heard in the mainstream. Founder Erec Smith said “The creators of Free Black Thought believe, in the words of Brittany Talissa King, ‘there isn’t a narrative, one black narrative — there’s 40 million.’”
In a country as diverse and independent-minded as ours, there should be room for these voices to be heard without being shouted down. In education, schools need to take the lead and provide students with tools on how to think. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society.” Today, I believe children are just pawns in a bureaucratic maze of an educational system that is failing them. Math and reading achievement are down, as grading standards are being lowered in many places. They graduate and are ill-prepared to handle the responsibilities of adult life, in my view.
What is needed is for adults to show courage and put aside personal politics and teach children. Nourish their brains and help them grow to be their best.
Kevin Landry
Lewiston
We need another Eisenhower
I liked Ike. Our country needs a president like him now. President Dwight Eisenhower ended the Korean War in 1953 and avoided getting drawn into several conflicts in the 1950s. Today his wisdom and strategy are sorely needed.
Eisenhower left a good example for exiting a war without it becoming a rout with abandonment of equipment and allies. Beginning in 1951, North and South Korea were stalled at the 38th parallel while savage fighting continued. For two years the Truman administration failed to end the bloodshed. Eisenhower (like Donald Trump) did not want to sacrifice our soldiers in a stalemate. Shortly after taking office, he presented a strategy to “win” the war with the escalation of force and use of tactical nuclear weapons. Soon after, China, North Korea and the Soviet Union agreed to end the war.
To this day no one knows what was in Eisenhower’s heart. Some historians believe it was a bluff, others believe it was the battle plan. Fortunately, in 1953 we did not have Gen. Mark Milley calling China and telling our enemy they would refuse to execute the plan. A call like that would have been considered treason with a fast and sure punishment.
If Milley is not punished and the military put in their constitutional place, we have told the world we have a junta, and the Office of the President is ceremonial. It would mean the end of our 245-year constitutional republic.
Joe Grant
Wiscasset
Appreciation for this newspaper
You might be interested in hearing about breakfast at our house this morning. We retrieved our BDN from its delivery box. When the coffee was ready, I grabbed the front page, and my husband grabbed the state section.
Within minutes, I was reading to him from the extremely interesting article by Judy Harrison about Maine’s unusual self-defense law. How interesting, clear and well-written it was! Then less than a minute later, he was reading to me from Abigail Curtis’s entertaining piece about the 600-pound tuna. What a good story, starring a cast of people with good judgment and good hearts who were willing to go out of their way to do something good. But that wasn’t all. Then he found Bob Duchesne’s fascinating article about hawks, and I listened, all ears, to the whole thing.
Just wanted you to know how very much we appreciate this fine newspaper. It’s a privilege too many people no longer enjoy.
Cheryl Mendelson
Machias