Tim Grace grew up playing ice hockey for Barnstable High School. He took pride in every aspect of the program, from the players to the coaches to the games. Hes tried to instill that same passion in his players since he became the head coach in 2015, right down to the Red Raider nickname.

Red Raiders means a lot to me, Grace said. I played my high school career as a Red Raider and graduated a Red Raider.

Grace, his players and the rest of the Barnstable athletic community could find themselves playing under a new nickname when the 2020-21 school year gets underway. A petition spearheaded by current and former BHS students in late June requested a change to the nickname, which some consider offensive to Native Americans.

The Barnstable School Committee on Wednesday will discuss potentially dropping it.

There are some people that obviously are very nostalgic about the pride and years of competing under a certain mascot, Barnstable athletic director Scott Thomas said. But then, were also being sensitive to issues that are prevalent in our society today.

Should the committee vote for a change, it will find general, but not universal, support among the coaching staff. Every head coach from Barnstables last three competitive seasons (spring and fall 2019, winter 2019-20) was contacted, and the majority of respondents said it was time for a change.

I think these are concerns, not complaints, and are absolutely valid, said Tom Turco, Barnstables girls volleyball coach and the schools longest-tenured varsity head coach. The pride is in playing for and representing Barnstable. The same drive and desire of the Barnstable athletic community, to be the best possible athlete, coach and team, will not in any way change.

Grace said hed prefer to keep the nickname he grew up with, but if our name is, in fact, offending a group of people, then, yes, we should change our name. Several other coaches shared Graces reaction, that the nickname should be changed if it offends people.

Anytime theres a group of people that speak out, then theres definitely validity behind it, Barnstable football and girls basketball coach Ross Jatkola said.

A minority of coaches were firmly against the change.

Its time that we put aside our political correctness and get real about dealing with whats important to the majority of the student body and not a few that are offended, girls tennis head coach Lou Giglio said.

Changing nicknames might have big implications for the school, but perhaps not as much actual impact on players day-to-day lives. Grace said his teams helmets bear a Red Raiders sticker, but the uniform just says Barnstable.

We identify ourselves as the Red Raider baseball program, but on the field refer to ourselves as the Raiders, baseball coach Dave Fouracre said. If a mascot name is offensive to a race, a culture or a particular group of people, then it is my belief that it should be changed.

Multiple coaches said their teams rarely refer to themselves by the full nickname Red Raiders during practices or competitions. Jatkola said his football team sometimes calls its field Red Raider Beach, but he tends to simply use Raider in plays.

We haven't used Red Raider in a long time, field hockey coach Ashley Bishop said. Weve used Raiders or Barnstable or Stable for as many years as I've been coaching.

Turco said his volleyball uniforms also have Barnstable written on them, but no reference to the nickname. His preferred cheer is Lets go Red, but thats a reference to the school color, similar to the University of Michigans Go Blue.

When I think of red, I think of the actual color of the uniforms, Jatkola said. I dont think it was ever intentionally used (here) to describe a skin tone or anything like that. Its just been the color of the uniforms and the school colors.

The petition demanding the change, among other educational reforms, had over 1,700 signatures on change.org as of Thursday afternoon. It comes amid national conversations surrounding racism, cultural appropriation and minority representation.

The NFLs Washington franchise officially dropped its Redskins nickname earlier this month.

Thomas said he received occasional calls in previous years asking Barnstable to change its name, but nothing as organized as this.

Its definitely on everybodys mind, Thomas said. I definitely dont want to disrespect anyone.

Barnstables athletic department already has undergone several changes to its iconography over the years. The schools logo used to be a Native American face, but has since changed to a red letter B with attached feathers, though that face still appears on redraiderpride.com, the schools athletic archive.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has for years been against using Native American imagery or terminology for athletic teams. Cedric Cromwell, the tribes council chairman, signed a January 2019 letter to the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means requesting legislation prohibiting Native American mascots and nicknames. The tribal council in 1995 unanimously voted to condemn such uses.

Itll be an adjustment, because well have to change logos and names, but if its an issue and its something that offends people, it should be changed, said Casey Proto, a rising senior and baseball player at Barnstable. Obviously, it can mean something thats derogatory.

Changing nicknames could also allow Barnstable to find a more unique mascot. Many other Massachusetts high schools have used the nickname Red Raider, including Lowell, Melrose and North Quincy.

Suggested new nicknames from coaches included Red Hawk and Pride. The red hawk would allow Barnstable to maintain the feathered B logo it currently uses, while Pride refers to the school slogan of Pride, honor, respect.

There is a red-tailed hawk that flies around campus all the time, boys tennis coach Mike Sarney said. We should have a nickname/mascot that everyone can be proud of.

More:

Coaches weigh merits of Red Raider mascot - Cape Cod Times

Oysterponds Historical Society will place a new sign at the site of a supposed slave burial ground on Narrow River Road in Orient. But they will not put back the sign that had previously been there for decades.

The societys Board of Trustees has decided to install a new sign, probably within the next two weeks, that will state what the society is doing to determine the actual history of the site, which decades of oral history have said is the burial ground of members of the Tuthill family and their servants.

We have a clear view not to put back the original sign, said Bob Hanlon, president of the societys board. We want to understand what this site is, and we will put up a temporary sign explaining what we are doing.

Last month, the society removed a marker that had been at the site since the early 1950s. It then formed a working group to research slavery and indentured servitude in Orient and East Marion. The removal met with sharp criticism from a number of Orient residents, many of them from so-called old families whose ancestors first settled in the area in the 1600s.

In a long Guest Spot column published by The Suffolk Times earlier this month, those residents said the sign should be returned to the site, saying the society erred in removing it without consulting the community. The tone of the column was that the old sign reflected accepted local history and should not have been tampered with.

The original marker said the ground around it was the burial spot for members of the Tuthill family and their servants, a benign euphemism for enslaved people who could be bought and sold. While criticized by some as a way to erase history, the society said in fact it wanted to dig deeper and try and determine who these individuals were and what became of them.

In an interview, Mr. Hanlon said that marker will not go back but a picture of the old sign will be part of the temporary new sign.

Mr. Hanlon said records will be thoroughly researched to determine exactly what is at the site. He said ground penetrating radar might be used to determine the number of graves there and whether there is truth to longstanding community rumors that the site might have been a traditional African burial ground.

Once we learn what we can, he said, then a new sign will go up. The old sign will remain in our collection The argument by some that we are destroying history, covering up history or caving in to [political correctness] is not so. We are simply looking to find out the truth. We are a historical society, not a political arm. Our job is history.

There were certainly slaves here in the 1600s. We are going about this with a totally open mind, and we will treat this ground with the respect it deserves, he added.

Some Orient residents who strongly opposed removing the old sign say the temporary one is a poor solution to the problem. In an email Tuesday, a spokesman for the group, Dick Leslie, said: This is the first we have heard of any specifics about the temporary sign. The Buildings and Grounds Committee of OHS has not been consulted on this. The majority of the new Working Group on this issue has not been consulted. This is not what transparency and community consultation looks like. Who at OHS drafted the language on the new sign? Has it been approved by the Board of Trustees ?

If the original sign was so offensive why would OHS erect a sign with a photo of the original? Is this a bizarre joke? Since this episode began almost two months ago the cemetery remains an unkempt mess. It is overgrown with brush and trees, the gate unrepaired and unpainted. OHS should concentrate on preserving the eight buildings under its jurisdiction and get out of the cemetery business.

View original post here:

Temporary sign coming to Slaves Burying Ground in Orient - Suffolk Times

Americans have buried George Floyd. Yet, the funeral did not end the ongoing protests, demonstrations, and riots. There have been casualties. The chaos has led to the destruction of local businesses, public administration buildings, and our cultural heritage.

It is time to reflect on what has been going on and to learn our lessons. We are dealing with a complex issue and our conclusions will be no different. It is not a black and white picture, no pun intended. Still, some are tempted to take shortcuts and deal with the cops in haste and to make an example out of them. Any decisions leading to defunding or even dismantling local the police forces may bring about anarchy.

The brutal truth is that Floyds case was not exceptional. Last year alone, 1,100 people died because of violence. Most of them were white and they were either beat up to death or shot dead. In addition, 150 police officers die in the United States each year. Therefore, the numbers do not give us clear-cut answers or a black and white picture. Any attempts of a deeper analysis of what happened or inquiries into Floyds past are met with hysterical knee-jerk reactions. There is no room for a rational discussion.

Are other places free of such problems though? Poland still remembers the death of Igor Stachowiak, who died in police custody. French streets have been taken over by violent clashes with yellow vests. A few years ago, we witnessed the brutality of the debates over the future of Catalonia. Every once in a while, German fascists, anti-fascists or alter-globalists awe us with their own street debates.

As a result, Europe is in no position to preach to the United States. Should anyone wish to insist on having the moral high ground, they should be reminded of Europes vast and long imperial and colonial past. I am writing these words in Brussels with a view of the statue of Leopold II, the Butcher of the Congo.

Another sad truth we must face is that we will never be entirely free of racist and xenophobic incidents. They have to be limited to a minimum and always be met with an adequate response from our societies and governments. What I mean by that, is a reaction that is suitable and balanced. What that entails is a peaceful demonstration and a due process of law. Hijacking protests by politically loaded issues is not justified. Unfortunately, all sorts of excluded, scandalised, offended, and dissatisfied groups that contest our social and international order tend to jump on the demonstration bandwagon.

Common thieves and criminals also blend into the crowd. The tendency to justify violence, theft and destruction of property by the liberal media is appalling. Racial tensions intertwine with economic issues. Recently, the latter has deepened due to the pandemic, and the US has been hit particularity hard. Problems of such high degree of complexity will not be solved overnight. Hastened administrative decisions only lead to more anarchy.

Unfortunately, one-size-fits-all type of solutions have been emerging for years. They have been driven by noble ideas of promoting tolerance and equal rights for everyone, including all minorities. Political correctness and affirmative action are among such policies.

The former was intended to rid the contemporary political discourse of hate speech, negative stereotypes, labelling, and shaming. It was to eradicate racist, xenophobic, sexist, and homophobic attitudes. Those were the goals. Instead, it led to the creation of doublespeak, which tends to be even more harmful due to its more sophisticated way of humiliating minorities.

I will spare you any examples. Just watch a couple of stand-up comedians on TV. In many cases, the newspeak is a mockery in itself and it simply boosts the popularity of the original term. In a complete frenzy, new phrases are being blacklisted, as they are supposedly related to slavery. Books, motion pictures, and monuments also fall victim to the self-righteous wave of censorship aimed to distort our collective memory.

Affirmative actions goal was to promote minorities access to education and social mobility by the application of quotas. What it led to were promotions that had no basis on merit. It is a common opinion in the United States that due to affirmative action a lot of people get promoted as soon as they can prove their heart is still beating. I was able to witness it first hand in the 1980s while I was a political immigrant from the progressive Eastern Bloc.

Unfortunately, privileges such as those based on a working-class or a peasant family background in Communist Poland do not lead to equality. So the question becomes how do we promote equality without granting minorities unfair privileges? Despite negative experiences with social engineering, the liberal left keeps marching on in that direction. Political correctness has also found its way into the world of science and art. Prestigious prizes tend to be granted based on PC criteria in order to appease discontent. Celebrity circles have been dominated by all sorts of minorities too.

This all leads to a distorted vision of history and reality. Try watching a contemporary TV series on Europes history and compare it to what you can learn from textbooks and from works of art. Do the scripts tell the stories the way they happened? Do actors looks and gestures portray the reality of the days past? Or are we being served a sort of virtual reality based on the wishes of todays social and ideological engineers?

The recent demons of extremism are bound to -and they do- inspire a pushback. In some cases, the recoil is soft in its nature and a moderate New York Times journalist will simply resign. In other cases, it is much more uncompromising. President Donald Trump has called certain liberal circles left-wing fascists and some politicians even go as far as to call for a military intervention in areas taken over by protesters.

To sum up, I would like to underline the fact that our civilisation was founded on the canons of Greek philosophy and democracy, the Roman legal and administrative system, and the Christian work ethic and family values. Our civilisation seeks compromise when dealing with complex problem-solving. The protests have been running amok and they increasingly resemble anarchy. As a result, our civilisation is facing attempts of annihilation.

In my opinion, it is our civilisation, rooted in Greek, Roman and Christian values that matters! It is our duty to defend it from the dictatorship of extreme minorities, who are fighting for unjustified privileges disguised as equality.

More:

Anarchy and annihilation are running amok - New Europe

By HANK HAYES

ROGERSVILLE Knoxville physician Josh Gapp is trying to stand out in a crowded 1st Congressional District Republican field that stands with President Trump and is pro-life.

We have a lot of great candidates and they are running on conservative principles, Gapp said during a stop at Hawkins County Republican headquarters.

I think Im probably further to the right. Theres a couple of key areas that matter to the people. One is this culture war thats been thrown at our feet. It stems from political correctness. That was the aha that got me out from underneath my microscope. The fabric of our country is being torn apart by political correctness. I am standing up to it. The other thing I think is important is Im an outsider. Ive never run for political office before. This is a project of passion for me.

Gapp addressed these questions:

If elected, what is your plan for the district?

Theres a couple key issues that we need to face. The key issues right now are this political correctness run amok. We cant have Black Lives Matter coming in and disrupting our communities. This COVID crisis, weve got to figure out a way to get the economy back up safe and secure for everybody. We cant afford as a country to have everything shut down. We need to get back open. President Trump was doing a wonderful job with the economy prior to this COVID. Weve got to get back to that.

How is the COVID crisis going to affect the Republican primary?

COVID is making it difficult to meet people in person. Weve done a lot of digital things. Weve done a lot of virtual events to make up for it. Were trying to talk to as many people as we can. I think theres enough motivation now that the vote wont be suppressed. I think its going to be a high turnout and people will go to the polls regardless of COVID.

Do you favor a second economic stimulus?

This is a tough one. It depends on what happens in the next couple of months.

If we shut down the economy again, then we absolutely need to do that. If we can keep the economy from fully shutting down, I think theres enough pent-up demand in the economy that we can let people get back to work and places open back up. The economy isnt shut down because of market forces. Its this exterior thing that is going on with COVID. The economy wants to jump. It wants to run.

Early voting has begun in the August GOP primary.

A Democrat hasnt been elected to the 1st Congressional District seat since the 19th century.

See more here:

Gapp tries to stand out in crowded GOP field - Kingsport Times News

Funds urgentlyneeded for elections

For 125 years, National Council of Jewish Women-St. Louis has worked diligently to ensure nonpartisan voting rights for all, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted egregious deficiencies in Missouris voting system. While politicians of both parties argue about many things, democracy shouldnt be one of them. Experts estimate we need at least $4 billion to ensure that states can prepare for elections during the coronavirus. Without this necessary funding for election infrastructure, many voters will be disenfranchised and unable to vote.

Recently, Congress passed $400 million in election funding in the first stimulus bill, which is a start, but we have to go much further and pass the $3.6 billion that was allocated to ensure safe elections in the HEROES Act. Every voter needs safe and secure options to vote by mail, absentee, early and on election day. Missouri passed a law in June which will allow many more Missouri voters to vote absentee or by mail for the August and November elections. More funding is a necessity for hiring poll workers during COVID and implementing many other key reforms to ensure safe voting for all.

Its now up to the Senate to pass the additional $3.6 billion needed to be ready for our November elections. This funding is crucial for Missouri to have safe elections. NCJWSTL urges Sen. Roy Blunt, who is thechairman of the Senate Rules Committee, tomake this funding a priority. The people of Missouri should not have to choose between their health and their vote.

We urge everyone to contact Sen. Blunts office now to insist on fair and safe voting for all.

Andrea Powers Schankman and Debbie Gilula, NCJWSTL Voting Initiative Co-Chairs

COVID-19 and the start of the school year

Regarding the July 15 article, Doctor would greenlight day school opening this fall, with conditions. Stunned. I am stunned. With lives on the line, I think an actual list of conditions and in what context would be the only ethical way to convey the doctors opinion. While the question and answer format of the article is interesting, I am still trying to figure out the parameters that the article headline promises.

If I understand well what is being said.... Classrooms are no more dangerous than going to the grocery as well as looking to Australia and other countries where schools are in session...if they can do it, so can we.

Thats just not true. Our children have far more comorbidity issues than other countries that makes them far more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 (See CNBCs July 13 article, U.S. students are at higher risk from the coronavirus than kids in other countries, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says.)

For students and their families as well as school staff and their families to have the protection implied, each person and each scenario would have to be perfectly played out. There are so many moving parts that I submit, that the risk of infection and the spreading take just a handful of missteps.

Masks need to be worn and taken off perfectly. Hand hygiene, the same. Even if people do their best, they are human. We all are familiar with the two-second rule...or the five-second rule? If we can scoop up the piece of toast off the floor in under five seconds, its all good. No harm, no foul.

Now, imagine each parent, child and teacher applying their own five- second rule to life in school.

COVID-19 doesnt care about what anyone thinks. Unless we depend on science and not broad opinions from scientists, we will remain victims.

Lois Ockner,University City

Russian Americans in St. Louis: We dont want to be a silent majority

On July 11, a group of the Russian Americans in St. Louis got together to demonstrate their support for our police. These demonstrators, who gathered in front of the Olivette and Creve Coeur police departments, strongly oppose proposals to defund the police, and are aghast at the humiliation of police officers and the lawlessness that has ensued in our own and other American cities.

Many of us, who came to United States as the Jewish refugees 20, 30 or 40 years ago, watch with disbelief and horror at what is happening in todays America. The reality is that the grim past that the former Russians, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans and Cubans left behind for a better future for their families has become a reality right here and now. Unfortunately, the bloody and tragic history of those countries that became socialist and fell victims of Marxist-Leninist ideology, is not an antidote to those who organize lawless riots and what I would describe as a pogrom in a Jewish neighborhood of Los Angeles.

We know too well, that compliance (called political correctness) leads to silencing, censorship and disappearance of free speech.

With disbelief we observe that many Jewish communities around the country, as well as Jewish papers and mass media, keep silent at worst or are meek at best when it comes to addressing the anti-Semitic destruction organized in Los Angeles this May during Shavuot. Instead of strong support for their Orthodox brothers and sisters, they express alliance with the Black Lives Matter movement, which I believe is anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. It seems that the long and tragic Jewish history has not been learned.

We former Soviet Jews cannot be a silent minority watching this great country face catastrophe as Russia and many others have. We cannot be silent watching great American history being attacked and monuments being destroyed by mob action or mob hysteria. And we cannot be silent when the police officers that keep American streets safe are humiliated.

Wake up, all ye who believe that the events of the Old World will turn out differently in the United States.

Lena Fish,St. Louis

Response to editorial

Regarding the June 19 editorial, Defund, Defend, Define highlighting the number of cases of police brutality that have occurred across the nation in the past several months.First allow me to say how deplorable I find these miscarriages of justice to be.

Having said that, however, the thought of defunding police departments entirely, or in great measure, is certainly not the answer and is counterproductive.

I can unequivocally say that the overwhelming majority of police officers in our nation do an exceptional job to serve and protect, and are the epitome of honesty, integrity and decency, putting their lives on the line for the public every day.

Unfortunately, there are those officers who fail miserably to uphold the highest standard and quality of law enforcement. These men and women must be weeded out and punished to the fullest extent of the law when they dishonor their badge and commit egregious crimes, which has occurred too often recently.

Police training needs to be upgraded and policies enforced vigorously so that law enforcement is the very best it can be while protecting the rights of all citizens. We are a nation of laws and must never lose sight of that hallowed and never-ending principle.

GeneCarton,University City

A misguided and disturbing commentary

Even though Marty Rochester is a friend and a colleague, his July 15 commentary (Let us reason together to defeat the pandemic) was so misguided and disturbing that I felt obliged to reply.

Let me start with the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be clear to everyone now that there should be no debate between fighting the pandemic or restarting the economy. Without the pandemic under control, it is impossible to restart the economy. President Donald Trumps decision to prematurely open up the economy was solely based on his mistaken idea that this decision would benefit him politically. My guess is that this year more than 100,000 Americans will prematurely die due to that decision. May I encourage Rochester to look at the three pages of obituaries in the last edition of the Jewish Light; in normal times, there is usually less than a page.

More significantly, it is now apparent that virtually every decision Trump makes is solely based on his political benefit, even if it is not in our countrys interest. This includes his extortion of Ukraine, his request for political help from China, his withdrawal of troops from Syria, and his deal with the Taliban. How about his embrace of the Confederate Battle flag, the one that even the state of Mississippi has now decided to remove from its state flag? How about his racism and race baiting, when so many Americans are marching for racial justice? And Rochester finds that the Democratic Party more odious than Donald Trump? Unbelievable.

Bernard J. Feldman,Creve Coeur

Reader respondsto recent letter

I have to respond to the July 1 letter titled President deserves credit for Israel support. Look at President Donald Trumps history while in office. In a few short months he has made the United States a laughingstock in the eyes of the world.If he does anything for Israel, its solely to solidify his base. He is immoral and unjust when it comes to the plight of others. Trump is an unlearned racist who probably has never picked up a book to educate himself about Israels lengthy and complex history. Please dont be fooled.

MelodyBoime,Clayton

To submit letters to the editor, email letters@thejewishlight.com or use our online form at stljewishlight.com/letters.

More here:

Letters to the editor: July 29, 2020 | Letters To Editor - St. Louis Jewish Light

Funds urgentlyneeded for elections

For 125 years, National Council of Jewish Women-St. Louis has worked diligently to ensure nonpartisan voting rights for all, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted egregious deficiencies in Missouris voting system. While politicians of both parties argue about many things, democracy shouldnt be one of them. Experts estimate we need at least $4 billion to ensure that states can prepare for elections during the coronavirus. Without this necessary funding for election infrastructure, many voters will be disenfranchised and unable to vote.

Recently, Congress passed $400 million in election funding in the first stimulus bill, which is a start, but we have to go much further and pass the $3.6 billion that was allocated to ensure safe elections in the HEROES Act. Every voter needs safe and secure options to vote by mail, absentee, early and on election day. Missouri passed a law in June which will allow many more Missouri voters to vote absentee or by mail for the August and November elections. More funding is a necessity for hiring poll workers during COVID and implementing many other key reforms to ensure safe voting for all.

Its now up to the Senate to pass the additional $3.6 billion needed to be ready for our November elections. This funding is crucial for Missouri to have safe elections. NCJWSTL urges Sen. Roy Blunt, who is thechairman of the Senate Rules Committee, tomake this funding a priority. The people of Missouri should not have to choose between their health and their vote.

We urge everyone to contact Sen. Blunts office now to insist on fair and safe voting for all.

Andrea Powers Schankman and Debbie Gilula, NCJWSTL Voting Initiative Co-Chairs

COVID-19 and the start of the school year

Regarding the July 15 article, Doctor would greenlight day school opening this fall, with conditions. Stunned. I am stunned. With lives on the line, I think an actual list of conditions and in what context would be the only ethical way to convey the doctors opinion. While the question and answer format of the article is interesting, I am still trying to figure out the parameters that the article headline promises.

If I understand well what is being said.... Classrooms are no more dangerous than going to the grocery as well as looking to Australia and other countries where schools are in session...if they can do it, so can we.

Thats just not true. Our children have far more comorbidity issues than other countries that makes them far more susceptible to contracting COVID-19 (See CNBCs July 13 article, U.S. students are at higher risk from the coronavirus than kids in other countries, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says.)

For students and their families as well as school staff and their families to have the protection implied, each person and each scenario would have to be perfectly played out. There are so many moving parts that I submit, that the risk of infection and the spreading take just a handful of missteps.

Masks need to be worn and taken off perfectly. Hand hygiene, the same. Even if people do their best, they are human. We all are familiar with the two-second rule...or the five-second rule? If we can scoop up the piece of toast off the floor in under five seconds, its all good. No harm, no foul.

Now, imagine each parent, child and teacher applying their own five- second rule to life in school.

COVID-19 doesnt care about what anyone thinks. Unless we depend on science and not broad opinions from scientists, we will remain victims.

Lois Ockner,University City

Russian Americans in St. Louis: We dont want to be a silent majority

On July 11, a group of the Russian Americans in St. Louis got together to demonstrate their support for our police. These demonstrators, who gathered in front of the Olivette and Creve Coeur police departments, strongly oppose proposals to defund the police, and are aghast at the humiliation of police officers and the lawlessness that has ensued in our own and other American cities.

Many of us, who came to United States as the Jewish refugees 20, 30 or 40 years ago, watch with disbelief and horror at what is happening in todays America. The reality is that the grim past that the former Russians, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Koreans and Cubans left behind for a better future for their families has become a reality right here and now. Unfortunately, the bloody and tragic history of those countries that became socialist and fell victims of Marxist-Leninist ideology, is not an antidote to those who organize lawless riots and what I would describe as a pogrom in a Jewish neighborhood of Los Angeles.

We know too well, that compliance (called political correctness) leads to silencing, censorship and disappearance of free speech.

With disbelief we observe that many Jewish communities around the country, as well as Jewish papers and mass media, keep silent at worst or are meek at best when it comes to addressing the anti-Semitic destruction organized in Los Angeles this May during Shavuot. Instead of strong support for their Orthodox brothers and sisters, they express alliance with the Black Lives Matter movement, which I believe is anti-Semitic and anti-Israel. It seems that the long and tragic Jewish history has not been learned.

We former Soviet Jews cannot be a silent minority watching this great country face catastrophe as Russia and many others have. We cannot be silent watching great American history being attacked and monuments being destroyed by mob action or mob hysteria. And we cannot be silent when the police officers that keep American streets safe are humiliated.

Wake up, all ye who believe that the events of the Old World will turn out differently in the United States.

Lena Fish,St. Louis

Response to editorial

Regarding the June 19 editorial, Defund, Defend, Define highlighting the number of cases of police brutality that have occurred across the nation in the past several months.First allow me to say how deplorable I find these miscarriages of justice to be.

Having said that, however, the thought of defunding police departments entirely, or in great measure, is certainly not the answer and is counterproductive.

I can unequivocally say that the overwhelming majority of police officers in our nation do an exceptional job to serve and protect, and are the epitome of honesty, integrity and decency, putting their lives on the line for the public every day.

Unfortunately, there are those officers who fail miserably to uphold the highest standard and quality of law enforcement. These men and women must be weeded out and punished to the fullest extent of the law when they dishonor their badge and commit egregious crimes, which has occurred too often recently.

Police training needs to be upgraded and policies enforced vigorously so that law enforcement is the very best it can be while protecting the rights of all citizens. We are a nation of laws and must never lose sight of that hallowed and never-ending principle.

GeneCarton,University City

A misguided and disturbing commentary

Even though Marty Rochester is a friend and a colleague, his July 15 commentary (Let us reason together to defeat the pandemic) was so misguided and disturbing that I felt obliged to reply.

Let me start with the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be clear to everyone now that there should be no debate between fighting the pandemic or restarting the economy. Without the pandemic under control, it is impossible to restart the economy. President Donald Trumps decision to prematurely open up the economy was solely based on his mistaken idea that this decision would benefit him politically. My guess is that this year more than 100,000 Americans will prematurely die due to that decision. May I encourage Rochester to look at the three pages of obituaries in the last edition of the Jewish Light; in normal times, there is usually less than a page.

More significantly, it is now apparent that virtually every decision Trump makes is solely based on his political benefit, even if it is not in our countrys interest. This includes his extortion of Ukraine, his request for political help from China, his withdrawal of troops from Syria, and his deal with the Taliban. How about his embrace of the Confederate Battle flag, the one that even the state of Mississippi has now decided to remove from its state flag? How about his racism and race baiting, when so many Americans are marching for racial justice? And Rochester finds that the Democratic Party more odious than Donald Trump? Unbelievable.

Bernard J. Feldman,Creve Coeur

Reader respondsto recent letter

I have to respond to the July 1 letter titled President deserves credit for Israel support. Look at President Donald Trumps history while in office. In a few short months he has made the United States a laughingstock in the eyes of the world.If he does anything for Israel, its solely to solidify his base. He is immoral and unjust when it comes to the plight of others. Trump is an unlearned racist who probably has never picked up a book to educate himself about Israels lengthy and complex history. Please dont be fooled.

MelodyBoime,Clayton

To submit letters to the editor, email letters@thejewishlight.com or use our online form at stljewishlight.com/letters.

Excerpt from:

Letters to the editor: | Letters To Editor - St. Louis Jewish Light

As a community having these difficult conversations about race, there is a trend going on I want to name here today.

If there is a word or phrase people dont understand, instead of finding out what the word means, they immediately try to distance themselves from the word and shut down so the discussions and any steps toward progress end.

You know, kind of like when you say someone has a "racist" or "prejudiced" opinion, or that they are speaking from a place of "privilege." In my experience, if they are truly about making progress, an indicator is in their response to that accusation.

You will have some who say, "Yes, I have shown those beliefs and I am learning so that I can change them". There are others representing the majority that I have encountered who will take offense and shut down. They leave the room, dont return to the meetings, get very defensive and argue or stop talking all together. Can you all identify with this scenario?

Think back to a time when someone has said one of those words to a person, how do they usually react? I want to add that, to this day, I have NEVER seen a person who is racist, actually admit to being racist. So, lets see, I have brought up racist, privilege and prejudice are you feeling uncomfortable yet? If yes, please keep reading, stay with us.

One phrase I see being thrown around these days without people really knowing what it means is "implicit bias." Negative implicit bias can be harmful if gone unchecked, and even people with the best intentions have it.

Lets talk about it: Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner

According to the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, implicit bias is defined as:

Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness. Rather, implicit biases are not accessible through introspection.

The implicit associations we harbor in our subconscious cause us to have feelings and attitudes about other people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance. These associations develop over the course of a lifetime beginning at a very early age through exposure to direct and indirect messages. In addition to early life experiences, the media and news programming are often-cited origins of implicit associations.

Here are some points from an informative website: https://www.aperianglobal.com/3-steps-address-unconscious-bias.

Understand that it is normal: We as human beings are hardwired to prefer others who resemble us or have similar features. What makes biases "bad" is a lack of awareness regarding how they influence our decisions and impact others.

Identify the biases and how they impact your work: After you identify and name your biases, notice how it affects who you invite to meetings, who you speak to easily and whose opinions influence your decisions?

Broaden your viewpoint and educate others: When identifying a negative bias you may have, make a conscious effort to learn more about that idea, individual, or group to understand how and why it makes you uncomfortable.

I challenge you all to learn more about implicit bias. Take an online quiz from "Project Implicit" by Harvard University. It is an eye-opener to those who feel they dont have implicit bias and see all people as equals. If you know you have bias, it helps to see which ones require attention to be changed to decrease biased behavior.

Change can be good.

Niko Merritt is the founding executive director of Sankofa Community Connection in Newport. Her column, Unpopular Opinion, appears bi-monthly on newportri.com and in The Daily News.

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UNPOPULAR OPINION: We all yes, all of us have implicit bias - newportri.com

I thought of my friend at the weekend, when we used our family membership to go camping in the glorious grounds of Polesden Lacey, and again today, when I received an email from the Trust informing me that due to what its director general says is its biggest crisis in living memory, it is to shed 1,200 jobs to help plug a 200 million funding gap after having had to close all of its houses, gardens, car parks, shops and cafes thanks to Covid-19.

There are no plans to mothball properties yet, although many remain shuttered: when we were there, the tall, elegant windows of Polesden Lacey remained darkened throughout; there was no opportunity to briefly escape the elements (and the children) to wander through cool, beeswax-smelling interiors; to be transported briefly back in time and marvel at the way people once lived.

Its pretty sobering stuff, even if youre no fan of some of the more right-on moves of recent years. Strip away the beanbags and the political correctness and at its heart, what the National Trust does is irreplaceably important. My friend was right we would all be the poorer without it.

And yet, while the job losses are undoubtedly tragic, could this slimming down turn out to, in the end, be to the good? 40 million of the Trusts savings are to be made in print marketing; 160 shops and 10 cafes are to close. Do we really need to be showered with more leaflets when we visit a heritage property, or be forced to exit through the gift shop, held to ransom over a box of fudge? Perhaps if the National Trust must tighten its belt, we could see a stripping away of all the extraneous fripperies, so we can concentrate on what is really glorious about what it does. For that, Ill keep paying my membership fee.

Farewell to another constant in my life: the noisy, comforting, swaying buffet car on an LNER train journey north. On every regular trip to my homeland, part of the ritual was choosing when, exactly, to make the endless, undulating journey up the length of the train (to take my handbag, or leave it to the fate of the gods?), usually only to find Id gone the wrong way and have to sway my way back again, all in pursuit of a bacon sandwich and a cuppa. The brief bit of core exercise broke up the monotony, but Im quite taken by the idea of being able to order food directly to my seat a small taste of how the other half live, without having to buy a first class ticket.

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It should be everyone's duty to join the National Trust - Telegraph.co.uk

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The Thing About France, Season 3

Produced by the cultural services of the French Embassy. French Morning is a media partner of Season 3.

New episodes every other Tuesday, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, the website of The Thing About France, and French Morning.

Being first and foremost understood as American where the primary identity that I had in society wasnt a racialized one, it was nationalized actually, was liberating.

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In this weeks episode of The Thing About France, the podcast by and for American Francophiles, guest Thomas Chatterton Williams got into a deep discussion with host Liesl Schillinger about black Francophilia, James Baldwin, and the impact of social media on expat life. Williams is an author and cultural critic whose notable works include the memoirs Losing My Cool: How a fathers love and 15,000 books beat hip-hop culture (2010), and Self-Portrait in Black and White (2019). An alum of Georgetown and NYU, the Newark, NJ native fell in love with France while on a summer study-abroad program in Tour, and now lives with his French wife and children in Paris.

Williams is an expert on the works of James Baldwin, and thinks about race professionally, so its not surprising that he had some interesting things to say about the American racial imaginary as a black man and an expat in the era of George Floyd.

Its interesting to watch these things from France, because France has a very different relation to political correctness, to identitarianism, to identity politics, he explains, mentioning Robin DiAngelos book White Fragility, which has only just been released in France this month. Im really interested to see how that is received. Because in many ways it challenges fundamental premises of the Republican ideal, that everyone is the same and that race is not something to be taken into account.

Regarding Baldwin, he discusses the notion of the expats responsibility to his or her home country. Though Baldwin eventually returned to America because of the draw of the Civil Rights movement, Williams feels that social media and online publications make it possible for him to take part in the transatlantic conversation no matter where he is.

But how exactly did a boy from New Jersey end up so far from home? Williams talks about his love of France, and how his father encouraged him to learn French as a child in the hopes of someday being able to experience the country and the culture. Paris symbolically holds a very special space in the black American imagination. Theres a strong expat tradition of writers like James Baldwin or jazz musicians like Sydney Bichet and others, even Miles Davis.

And dont think Coronavirus fatigue hasnt caught up with him, even in the small village in the Loire Atlantique where he and his family have been quarantining. This has been just such an extraordinary year full of so much, and on top of that youve got an election coming up thats extraordinarily important, and the whole world is watching, and it feels like were just exhausted. So my instinct in those situations is just to try to isolate, bring some good books, read, write as much as I can.

Sound advice. For those who would maybe prefer to listen than read right now, new episodes of The Thing About France will be available every other Tuesday. Stay tuned on Frenchly and French Morning for more.

The Thing About France, Season 3

Produced by the cultural services of the French Embassy. French Morning is a media partner of Season 3.

New episodes every other Tuesday, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, the website of The Thing About France, and French Morning.

Continued here:

The Thing About France, S3E2: Thomas Chatterton Williams on Race, Philosophy, and COVID-19 - Frenchly

Donald Trump is a political arsonist. He has unleashed a firestorm across America. The kindling was always there. Trump chose to throw gasoline on it and set it afire.

Trump's political cult members and other followers are dancing in a circle around the flames. In the light and noise, they see and hear things which are not there. Like the troglodytes in Plato's allegory of the cave, they have lost the ability to discern truth from lies. All that matters is their proximity to Trump's fire.

Good Americans have encircled Trump's conflagration. They know the danger and power it possesses. They are also willing to be burned and suffer other injuries to save the country from its worst inclinations in the form of the fire devils that Trump commands.

Good Americans also know that fire can be used for both creation and destruction. As such, they are waiting for the right moment to seize the fire for their own purposes.

There are observers as well.Many are in the shadows cowed and afraid. Other watchers aresad and depressed and more than a little confused by what America in the Age of Trump has become.

Trump's blazingfire is the main attraction in the American terrordome, wherethe spectacle of Trump's threats, violence, lies, fear, intimidation, corruption, racism andcruelty unfold. Thisis the logic of reality TV made into a presidency and the resultingsurreal nightmare that has entrapped the American people in the Age of Trump.

The protagonists in Trump's spectacle are the "virtuous,""strong" and "heroic" Donald Trump and his"patriotic" and "law-abiding" (white) followers and of course the police and other enforcers of "law and order."

The villains are the various recurring bogeymen of the right-wing imagination, such as Latino "rapists" and "murderers," "invasions" and "caravans" of nonwhite people, Muslimsand any othergroup deemed to be despised. "Anti-fascists" and "Black Lives Matter" activists, who supposedly hate America. Black athletes who kneel in protest against police thuggery and other social injustices are "thugs" who should be kicked out of the country. The George Floyd protesters and anyone else who dares to disagree with the Trump regime are enemies of the state to be purged. "Anarchists," leftists, liberals and intellectualswith their "political correctness" are also to be disposed of.

Thisspectacle circulates across American society via Fox News and the larger right-wing propaganda disinformation machine. Unwittingly, those Americans with their "doomscrolling" a phrase that sounds like something from theH.P. Lovecraft mythos or the "Hellraiser" moviesand other Trump fixations are all part of the spectacle as well.

In total, Trump's terrordome is the theater of political terror and the "American carnage" he first promised in his 2016 inauguration speech. Trump hopes tousethe samethemes to win the 2020 election -- and then to stay in office for as long as he wants.

Trump's terrordome has a new attraction: his personal stormtroopers, a de facto Gestapo.

In a massive violation of the civil and human rights of the American people, Trump's secret policeareoperating in Portland, Oregon, grabbing protesters off the streets and disappearing them for interrogated. Trump's Gestapo is beating, gassing and shooting protesters with so-called non-lethalweapons, which in reality can cause grievous physical harm.

Trump has promised to unleash more than 50,000 of his personal enforcers in Democratic-led cities across the country. He will likely use these same enforcers to try to steal the 2020 election.

Trump's theater of terror in Portland (and soon elsewhere, perhaps) is following a script common to the authoritarian playbook where the leader creates a crisis, the people resistand then the threats and violence are amplified with the end goal being a "state of emergency" that"justifies" the authoritarian seizing even more power.

At the New York Times, former FBI director James Comeyaccurately summarizes Trump's Portland gambit:

What better way for Trump to demonstrate to his followers that he is "your president of law and order" than to deploy highly visible federal officers, and in a way that is sure to invite violent conflict, which, of course, demonstrates the need for a law-and-order president? And on it goes. The only thing damaged in the process will be the United States and the federal law enforcement agencies our country needs. Yet again, the craving of our president for reelection seems to override everything.

The Trump regime is so unrestrained that it actually uses the word "theater" to describe the Portland protests and the president's related instigationsand plots to remain in power.

As reported by the Washington Post, a Trump regime official said the president had chosen Portland as "a theater for his fight,"adding that"the White House had long wanted to amplify strife in cities, encouraging DHS officials to talk about arrests of violent criminals in sanctuary cities and repeatedly urging ICE to disclose more details of raids than some in the agency were comfortable doing. It was about getting viral online content."

Last Friday, Trump's White House press secretary,Kayleigh McEnany, presented the regime's own version of a Joseph Goebbels propaganda film in the form of a video purporting to show "riots" in Portland. This presentation was sotasteless that even Fox Newscut away from the White House press briefing.

Of course, there are no "riots" except for those instigated by Trump's enforcers and the right-wing extremists and other paramilitaries who have infiltrated what are largely peaceful gatherings.

McEnany's propaganda film is part of a larger and obvious strategy of terrifyingthe American people or at least Trump's base of older, white Fox News watchers, who he imagines as a"silent majority" into supporting the president's crackdown and re-electing him.

In Trump's terrordome these distorted images of anti-fascists, Black Lives Matter activists, mothers, veteransand other protesters are doing another type of political work as well

Violence by the Trump regime against dissenters is made legitimate. Moreover, violence by Trump's supporters against his perceivedenemies is encouraged and renderedvirtuous as well

In many ways, Donald Trump's terrordome spectacle is his version of the "Two Minutes Hate" as depicted in George Orwell's essential book "1984".

Writing at Bloomberg, legal scholar Cass Sunstein explains:

To see it, we have to step back a bit and consider one of George Orwell's most powerful creations: the Two Minutes Hate, directed against Emmanuel Goldstein, "the Enemy of the People" and opponent of Big Brother.

As Orwell depicts it in "1984," Big Brother focuses the public on Goldstein's misdeeds and the continuing threat he poses: "He was the commander of a vast shadowy army, an underground network of conspirators." As citizens see Goldstein's face on a screen, they break out into "uncontrollable exclamations of rage," followed by a "hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer."

Orwell's ominous words suggest that every human heart is vulnerable to that ecstasy. "The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was not that one was obliged to act a part, but, on the contrary, that it was impossible to avoid joining in." (Think of what happens on contemporary social media.)

For Big Brother, the Two Minutes Hate is shrewd politics. It is a diversion from issues of policy, and from problems that people face in their ordinary lives. It focuses citizens' attention on a malevolent, even demonic force, who continues to threaten them.

Trump's terrordome and the power he has over many tens of millions of Americans (including bystanders) also recalls the description of Nazi Germany injournalist Milton Meyer's book "They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45":

The world you live in your nation, your people is not the world you were born in at all. The forms are all there, all untouched, all reassuring, the houses, the shops, the jobs, the mealtimes, the visits, the concerts, the cinema, the holidays. But the spirit, which you never noticed because you made the lifelong mistake of identifying it with the forms, is changed. Now you live in a world of hate and fear, and the people who hate and fear do not even know it themselves; when everyone is transformed, no one is transformed. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way.

Donald Trump is an authoritarian and a neo-fascist. Like others of that ilk, he is only able to destroy and not create. Nearly 150,000 Americans are dead from the coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump's willfully negligent response. The country is teetering on the edge of a second Great Depression. Other existential threats, such as the global climate disaster, continue their march largely unabated.

Ultimately, the Trump regimeand its politics of terror and cruelty amplify the pain, suffering, fearand insecurityof the American people and by design do nothing to soothe and heal them.

Public opinion polls and other research showthat the American people are experiencing high levels of anxiety and other mental health challenges from the Age of Trump and his pandemic. Suicides have increased. The American people largely want a return to normalcy and consistency and not the chaos of the Trump regime. Life spans continue to decrease among many populations in America, include the "white workingclass". The American people know that the country is going in the wrong direction and the myth of American exceptionalism is collapsing.Patriotism is at the lowest levels in several decades.

The pain, sorrow, loss, and misery are the goal: Trump and his regime are illegitimate, and hope to use his terrordome spectacle to remain in power.

Because of a deep reluctance to state those plain facts, America's mainstream news media continues toignore thatthe country is in the grip of a fascistpolitics and authoritarian spectacle where normal politics and the folk theory of democracy with its "free and fair" elections, responsible political parties, politically engaged citizens, rule of law, and respect for the Constitution as well as existing political and social institutions no longer apply.

Those people who are fortunate to live outside of Trump's terrordome see something horrible in America.Once the leader of the world,the U.S. has lost its prestige and moral authority. Writing at the New York Times, Roger Cohen reflects on how America now looks from Germany, a country which was destroyed by fascism and then rebuilt as a leading democracy:

When paramilitary-style units have no identifying insignia, there is no transparency, no accountability and that means impunity. Democracy dies. Think of all this as setting the scene for Trump's own "state of emergency" if he does not like the November election result. Social media is combustible enough for a physical fire to be unnecessary.

The president says he wants to protect law-abiding citizens. In 1933, after the Reichstag burned, Hitler issued the "Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State" as his means to seize power.

German horror at Trump has many components. He's the fear-mongering showman wielding nationalism, racism and violence as if the 20th century held no lessons. He's the would-be destroyer of the multilateral institutions that brought European peace and made it possible for Germans to raise their bowed heads again. He is a fascist in the making.

At present, Joe Biden is leading Donald Trump inthe polls. There are many ways, legitimate and otherwise,that Donald Trump couldwin a second term, but many observersnowbelieve that he will be vanquished in historic fashion. Of course, that is no guarantee that Trump will peacefully leave office in January or that he may not find away to contest the outcome.

A Biden victory would show that the American people want a return to normal. But what does "normal" really look like when the status quo did so much tovomit out Trump's neo-fascist regime and allthe destruction and human misery it created?

To light the way forward to a better America will demandmuch more than going back to "normal" fromJoe Biden and from all of us.

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Welcome to Donald Trump's terrordome: But even this may not save him - Salon