‘Letter to the Editor’ Archives
Letter to the Editor: Profile Police Stops that fear non-whites of any age
By Laura Waterman Wittstock I don”'t know how many studies I have read that non-whites are stopped far more than whites. In MN American Indians are arrested far more than their population should suggest when compared to other populations. A great majority of these arrests do not result in convictions. We can”'t have an intelligent conversation without understanding what the relationship is between nonwhites driving cars and the stopping rates. In a non-scientific way, I have also noticed a lot of stops of older cars, whatever color the driver happens to be so. So poverty is likely another factor. The police represent the expectations of the presumed law-abiding public. Ten years ago I was stopped in a sweep around Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis for presumably not stopping long enough at a stop sign for the officer who was in a car perpendicular to me on another street. As I stopped and looked left, I saw him. After stopping I started out and he came after me. I told [...]
FAKE NEWS SENT TO THE EDITOR: Conjecture, opinion, and prejudice
The Alley Newspaper has a firm policy excluding the printing of Letters to the Editor that are not signed. In May an ANONYMOUS packet of papers was sent to the Editor. The Alley Newspaper is choosing to acknowledge receipt of these papers albeit with a label of FAKE NEWS/propaganda/revisionist history. We believe it is important to acknowledge this repudiation of truth so that we realize the task at hand and its complexities in the 21st Century. See Spirit of Phillips cartoons with his quotes from the 19th Century about Freedom, Truth, and History. He lays bare “half of history is loose conjecture and much of the rest is the writer”'s opinion;” and “most men see facts not with their eyes but with their prejudices.” The contents of the papers received bear witness to the words of Wendell Phillips in the mid 800”'s. We assume the sender is aware of the absurdity of the pages sent or they wouldn”'t omit their name. We hope the sender has the [...]
Frank Reflections
By FRANK ERICKSON If Americans want Mexicans to respect U.S. borders, why have Americans never respected Iraqi borders; are not Americans in Iraq “illegal?” Chris Rock said, “Only Brian Williams didn”'t even kill anyone, just lied about what helicopter he was in, a real troublemaker. If you think “war”'s” evidence for existence is rooted in self-defense, how could Iraq”'s right to defend itself in 2003 give the U.S. the freedom to kill? When a local radio station plays Lynyrd Skynyrd, is that not the same as flying the confederate flag? What a dumb idea the “Civil War” was, if the South would have “won,” we would be honoring The Confederate Flag before Twin”'s games and slavery would be the law of the land. Donald Trump should be grateful that Mexicans cannot come to America via attack helicopters and battleships. Mexicans should be welcomed for one reason alone, they don”'t come as [...]
