Letters to the Editor

Lets avoid useless name-calling

As a person who has many friends of multiple races and is a moderate conservative, I feel “damned-if-I-do and damned-if-I-don’t.”

I see beyond color and instead focus on a person’s character.  However, because I support the Tea Party movement, I’ve been labeled a “racist” by the NAACP.  They don’t know me or my background.

While I can’t directly relate to the injustices faced by many African Americans, I am a decedent of the Native American Cherokee tribe. My ancestors were also forced from their homeland, murdered and treated with great disdain.

However, at the end of the day, I am an American (without a hyphen attached) and do not believe that racism can fight racism. Voting for or against a political candidate based on race, ethnicity or sex is still a form of racism. In addition, having high expectations that a political candidate will design and execute their political agenda to specifically favor any particular race, ethnicity or sex is another form of racism.  I strongly disagree with the notion (and trend) that if I voice disagreement or opposition to a particular issue or candidate because of facts, statements and/or management track record ... I get bastardized and libeled as being racist.

While there still are true accounts of racism occurring in this country, falsely accusing people of being racist will eventually dilute credible claims of this wrongdoing. Let’s not forget what happened to the boy who kept crying wolf...

Seniors deserve better

It was not uncommon during the Great Depression to see long lines of unemployed workers waiting for bread and soup.  

Today, in Massachusetts, there are several thousand elders lined up waiting for home care — but you won’t see them on the streets.  

 Instead, these seniors are in their homes, unable to get the help they need to avoid costlier nursing home care. The home care budget has been slashed this coming year, and cases will fall to a level lower than they were in 1980.  

This is happening not just in Massachusetts, but all around the nation. Seniors do not fall into the “too big to fail” category, so they are not being offered a bailout package. They did not speculate with their savings, so there will be no troubled asset relief program for them.  

It is a sad state of affairs when the state and federal government cannot figure out how to prioritize their spending to ensure that no one goes into an institution that could have been kept at home.  

 I hope the State Legislature will restore the $12 million that was cut from home care, and protect the civil rights of the disabled to remain living in the most integrated setting possible.