Writer Doesn’t See It the Way Lou Davis Does
Dear Editor:
As I was reading the opinion column by Lou Davis (The Way I See It, May, 2012), I had to check the date on the paper to see if this was some kind of April Fools’ joke. Perhaps before writing such an “opinion”, Mr Davis would like to read and maybe, reread his column before it goes to press. Yes, Mr Davis, I will agree with you that there are racial divides in this country that I have never seen since the days of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. But since when are women in this country considered a different race than men? You make no mention of any fact about race in this country and instead begin a diatribe against womens’ rights. On this, the 40th anniversary of Title IX, women must still fight for even the most basic of rights in the workplace. The last time I checked the figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, women were still only making a portion of what men were making for doing the same job. Where is the equality?
In the same paragraph, you mention the “Occupy Wall Street” movement. To be honest, I don’t agree with the way that they go about things. Where is the message that we can stand behind to fight this and to find a solution? And, I don’t agree with the violence that seems to be a part of every rally. However, they are trying to send a message and to be honest, if I were in there shoes, I would be afraid to be a spokesman for any cause, let alone fighting big business, in this country. If you are of a certain age, you remember the last ones to stand for a cause that was out of the mainstream and what happened to them. Martin. Bobby. Jack.
Your fixation on demeaning women is deplorable. You make them out to be second class citizens. Women must fight daily to preserve their rights that are being taken away by a government of old, Caucasian men. I don’t care what political party they are affiliated with. Since when does anyone have the right to tell another how to live their life. As a man of color Mr. Davis, you should understand it better than most of us could ever.
When it comes to health care, I will always stand up for the working man. The tone of your article sounds much like the newspapers of the early part of the 20th century. Perhaps you don’t remember child labor. Working 6 or 7 day weeks. No benefits. That is what the working men and women of this country stood for against repressive business owners and won the freedoms that we take for granted today. You worry about religious institutions being mandated to cover contraception costs. OK Mr. Davis, who will pay for the unwanted children? The possible risk to women who can’t afford health care when they are pregnant. And again, what right does any man have in saying what I may do with my body. When are the people of this country, who are losing their jobs to overseas competitors, going to stand up and say “Enough is Enough’?
Your rhetoric reminds me of a history class that I took many years ago. The stand against women or any minority. The belief in a Supreme Being that will lead us through and will fight our battles as long as we let our leaders tell us what to think. Allowing any business or government to run over the working men and women and tell them they should be happy with what they are given. You Mr. Davis, of all people, should be at the front of the line to not think as you are, but to see what is really happening. You see, the place that I am talking about is not the United States of the 21st century. It was Germany of the 1930’s.
Keith C. Walters, Antioch