Part of the family
My granddaughter, Sarah, just graduated high school. She’s a good student, raised by two women who have given her a bright future. When Sarah was a toddler, her mother worked in a local school. “Maria” was hired as nanny-caretaker. She became Sarah’s second mother. After Sarah started school, Maria continued visiting weekly as a job, cleaning house for my daughter. She also visited on holidays, not as a job, but a family member.
Today, Maria stays in her apartment, afraid to drive to housecleaning work. She’s afraid to walk to local markets, because ICE agents are posted on the corner. After living here for over 20 years, she’s returning to Mexico. Her departure breaks our hearts; we’re losing part of our family.
Grandchildren grow up and often move away. Now it’s Nanny’s turn, but not her choice. Trump’s cruel deportations dismember our family and disintegrate our community.
That just ain’t right. Stop the kidnappings. Close the internment camps. Restore due process. Freeze ICE.
Bruce Joffe, West Dallas
Rocks and old bones
My wife and I have pushed back having children until we were in a financially responsible position to do so. We paid down all our debt and have now been able to focus on increasing our investments to save for our retirement.
Meanwhile someone just spent $5 million on a rock and $30 million for a bunch of old bones. Both the Mars meteorite and the Ceratosaurus bones should be in a museum for all to marvel at, not in the living room of a billionaire.
If the rich have discretionary spending for rocks and bones, they can handle an increase in taxes.
William Dominguez, Richardson
Leave infamous plaza alone
Re: “Embarrassment of Dealey Plaza,” by E. Prioleau Alexander, Tuesday Letters.
This letter from the Marine from South Carolina, expressing displeasure at the condition of Dealey Plaza, struck a nerve. I was 8 years old when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and I moved here 52 years ago. That Dealey Plaza remains essentially unchanged is an unflinching testament to the history of Dallas.
I frequently drive down Elm Street, over the site of the assassination, on my way home to Arlington. Rain, snow, heat, ice, wind, the dead of night — there are always people in Dealey Plaza pointing, taking photos and trying to make sense of the senseless.
The history is right there, visible to everyone. Who hasn’t seen the Zapruder film? And you can still recognize exactly where it was taken.
To change Dealey Plaza to perhaps be more aesthetically pleasing would be a huge mistake. It should remain just as it is, although the bottleneck traffic at times would suggest otherwise. Every time I drive down that infamous street, I think of President Kennedy and remember, while also thinking of what might have been had he lived. It is a real-life, real-time memorial that deserves to live on in its own unfortunate infamy.
Diane M. Gatzke, Arlington
Scream for vegan ice cream
It’s funny how our government held a big press conference for National Ice Cream Day, July 20, with officials praising ice cream like it’s a health food. They don’t mention how the saturated fat and sugar fit into Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” plan.
Instead, they celebrated removing oil-based dyes from food. Maybe the food-dye lobby isn’t as generous with campaign contributions as the dairy lobby.
I can’t help but think about the cows — gentle mothers whose babies are taken so we can have their milk turned into ice cream and other dairy products. The good news? We don’t need to choose between enjoying ice cream and being kind to animals.
There are countless plant-based ice cream options that are better for your health, better for the planet, and, best of all, they don’t harm animals.
Dugan Elliott, Dallas
Brazil tariffs
Re: “Trump ties 50% tariff to trial,” July 10 news story.
Kudos to The Dallas Morning News for printing, on the front page no less, the Associated Press story explaining Trump’s 50% tariff on Brazil. His tariffs initially came about when he declared an economic emergency because of trade imbalances. That notion alone is absurd because trade imbalances are benign in and of themselves. They are the result of free trade, the hallmark of capitalism.
His tariff on Brazil is even more nonsensical because we export more to Brazil than they send to us. The tariff is simply a weapon Trump is using to force Brazil to stop the prosecution of their former president for trying to overturn a free and fair election. Sound familiar?
Demanding that a foreign country abandon its judicial principles or face economic penalties is a new low for our country. As this article stated, ”personal grudges rather than simple economics” are at work here. When is our spineless Congress going to step in and rein in this craziness?
Julie B. Morgan, Keller
Opportunities above obstacles
Re: “We must have faith in America,” by Ronell Smith, July 13 Opinion.
One sentence in this well-written op-ed stood out to me. Speaking to his daughter, Smith said her “opportunities dwarf any obstacles, assuming she leverages her agency effectively.”
In a time when so many young people are getting the message that every minority in this country is a victim and cannot get ahead on their own, I found this very refreshing.
Les Gregory, Frisco