Pay attention to school board Did you know that the school board approved the fall school reopening plan at its July 13 meeting? Did you see the reopening plan? Hear about other policies governing school district operations, curriculum revisions, teaching standards, safety, budget or teacher's professional training at the bimonthly school board meetings, every second and fourth Tuesday at the Robert Crowell Board Room, Community Center, 851 E William St., Carson City. Next meetings are Aug. 10, Aug. 24, Sept. 14, and Sept 28. Mark your calendars. The board meeting starts at 7 p.m. and you can provide public comment on any topic you deem important to the education of your children during item 7 of the meeting agenda. If you cannot attend the meeting, you can provide comments by email at publiccomment@carson.k12.nv.us. Your input is critical in shaping the welfare of your children. Bring your children with you at the meeting so they can tell their own story about their experiences at school. You elect the school board — tell them what you would like to see in your schools. Bepsy Strasburg Carson City Stop jeopardizing your loved ones An old western saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.” Let’s update that for the 21st century: Science and the U.S. government can provide a COVID-19 vaccination for virtually every American, with an extremely high degree of efficacy, free of charge, no cost, even offer cash incentives and lottery chances if one takes it ... but like the horse, you can't make them get that needle poke. Come on people. Wake up! Wake up from that God-awful trance you've been in for years. Quit denying the truth, the science, the climate change. Quit holding on to all those lies, the misinformation, the outright garbage that has no sustenance, no evidence, not one iota of fact. Rejoin the human race. It was bad enough that most of us had to survive your willingness to sacrifice us, family, strangers, friends, because you didn't "believe" it was real. Fighting the no-mask/distancing rules like you knew what the heck you were doing. But now that we're all fairly safe from your "life gambles," you continue to jeopardize anyone around you, including your children, family, friends and co-workers. I guess I should not be too despondent that many of you will eventually disappear, and we will reach herd immunity without your continued obstinancy. But I do worry about the innocents ... the ones you never have nor continue to care about. Knowing you could protect yourself and loved ones, but choosing not to. I will say that I hope you can live with your decision. But you probably won't. Rick Van Alfen Carson City Victimology Life is difficult and success takes effort. Playing the victim is much easier; blaming others means never taking responsibility or changing self-destructive behavior. America was founded on the most glorious and profound principle in all of human history. “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Maybe we haven’t always lived up to these ideals, but thousands fought and died to preserve and expand our precious heritage of freedom. We as a nation have spent trillions of dollars in an effort to assimilate the disadvantaged. Lack of success is not the result of a legacy of racism. Failure is the unintended consequence of misguided social engineering schemes that promote group identity and self-esteem over individual merit and achievement. Economic and spiritual stagnation is the result of poor life choices and a lack of personal responsibility. CRT perpetuates the victim mentality, by blaming society for individual failings. Progress will never be made and circumstance will never improve as long as blame is externalized. If America is as systemically racist and vile as leftists contend, why are millions flooding across our southern border in search of a better life? America may not be perfect, but there’s no place better. I challenge those disparaging America to name one place that offers more freedom, greater opportunity and a higher standard of living. Seriously, if there’s a socialist utopia out there, where the hell is it? Mike Rodgick Carson City Let history stand Well it looks like Black Lives Matter and Antifa have gotten their way again. The recent pulling down of Confederate statues at Charlottesville constitutes another symptom of the degeneracy of leftist culture in this country. History happened! You can't change that. But these idiots are bent on stamping out any vestige of Civil War happenings. Most of these abominations were erected in the early years of the 20th century in order to let Southern blacks know who was in charge — the Democrat party and it's military wing, the Ku Klux Klan. And, incidentally it wasn't the Democrats who got Civil Rights legislation passed in the 1960s, it was — GASP — Republicans! Here's an idea, why not keep these examples of racist claptrap to remind people of what took place, in the hope that it will never happen again? Obviously, it ain't gonna happen! I am not running for any political office and I approve this message. John Frink Carson City CRT is not being taught in our classrooms Lynn Muzzy's recent letter on Critical Race Theory illustrates the increasing politics of confusing opinions with facts. FACT: “Critical Race Theory,” “CRT,” is taught at the graduate level in law schools, not elementary or secondary schools. FACT: Formal "CRT" is not being taught to any of our children in local schools. If one cares about facts rather than political hysteria, an article on the origin and principles of academic CRT is at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED506735.pdf. An objective discussion by the Associated Press regarding the current political hysteria claiming that CRT being taught in our schools is at: https://apnews.com/article/what-is-critical-race-theory-08f5d0a0489c7d6eab7d9a238365d2c1. So, how has a rather obscure academic theory been turned into the latest ultra-right boogeyman to scare voters? Obviously by such propaganda such as the Wall Street Journal editorial opinion (not factual news article) that "CRT is a "neo-Marxist ideology.” Without, of course, any attempt to explain how academic CRT is "neo-Marxist.” Labels are cheap. Those making the outrageous and false claims about CRT being "pushed into our schools" simply don't understand, or care to understand, the facts behind academic CRT, or, the facts about history actually being taught in our schools. The conclusion of Cheryl Harris, a UCLA law professor who teaches a CRT graduate course, is that "it’s a myth that critical race theory teaches hatred of white people and is designed to perpetuate divisions in American society." Instead, she believes the increasing CRT hysteria has a clear political goal — “to ensure that Republicans can win in 2022.” The McCarthyism of the 1950s is back. Jon Nowlin Carson City
