Thanks for music
The Hood River Valley Christian Church family extends our deepest appreciation to several local musicians for making our hearts sing with their music! With COVID curtailing our choir activities, these musicians often bless our Sunday worship service with their wonderful gifts.
Our deepest appreciation to gracious strings players Chari Harrington, Melissa Arndt, Nick Eby and Michelle Edwards, and to the delightful brass ensemble of Bob Smith, Hugh Amick, Ed Price and Carol Goter. Special thanks also to guest soloist Jo Herring for sharing her musical talents with us. Your gifts have added greatly to worship at HRVCC! We appreciate your generous support and look forward to enjoying more of your very special gifts of music!
Betty Osborne
Hood River
‘Critical Racist Theory’
The Op Ed “Understanding Critical Race Theory” (Dec. 15) purports to explain and defend CRT. While the essay does neither, it does falsely claim “… many are saying we should forget (slavery) ever happened.”
NOBODY is saying that. We just reject the “theory” that we are a fundamentally racist country, and that there is anything constructive in teaching white kids they are oppressors and Black kids that they are oppressed. CRT in effect teaches certain races have certain characteristics, and that requires people be treated differently based on those characteristics. That is, of course, the very essence of racism.
The fact is neither slavery nor any of the other transgressions CRT likes to focus on were unique to America. Not only did slavery and genocide exist on this continent before the first Europeans arrived, but so did things like human sacrifice and ritual torture. Human beings really are fundamentally the same, and the same flaws show up in all races and cultures.
It’s true “racial equality” has still not been achieved, despite the fact segregation and racial discrimination were legally prohibited decades ago. The only explanation CRT enthusiasts will consider is that we are a “systemically racist” country, “white privilege” keeps Black people down, and the only solution is racial discrimination and segregation. No, they don’t say it exactly that way, but when you reject the goal of a “color blind” society, that’s what you are promoting.
George Wallace’s battle cry was “segregation now, segregation forever.” He argued it was natural and right to associate with people who “look like me.” Now we have graduation ceremonies, proms, colleges, political organizations, TV channels, beauty contests, play times, job openings, scholarships and countless government programs based on skin color. Racial discrimination and segregation are alive and well in today’s “woke” America.
CRT obsesses on the negative events in our history, postulates those negatives are somehow unique to America and one race, and racism is so woven into the fabric of our society we need more racial discrimination and segregation to fight it. In other words, racism is the cure for racism.
Steve Hudson
The Dalles
A season’s greetings hope
We’re in a time of great stress — from COVID, climate change, political division, economic uncertainty, racial tension and negative news cycles, to name a few.
I have been reading and hearing for months about a dramatic rise in mental health issues, for all ages and in all parts of the U.S. Is it possible that this is an explanation for the bullying of school board members (and even of sheriff’s deputies protecting them!) that I have been hearing about and witnessing in Hood River County School Board meetings recently? It’s definitely not an excuse for such behavior.
There really is no excuse for being uncivil or threatening to each other. It’s not good for us as a community or a country. It’s not good for the victim being targeted and it certainly isn’t good for our children who look up to adults as role models!
It’s not good for the bullies either as it diminishes them as human beings, as good community members. We may not have the same political opinions but bullying is not the way to build bridges towards a healthy society which I believe should be a common goal!
I am writing this letter because I believe that if and when any of us observes or hears about personal harassment and or bullying, we owe it to each other to speak out — in words, in actions, in voting, and in supporting each other in these stressful times. To quote a wise friend of mine: “You don’t have to have a cape to be a hero, just a conscience.”
Maybe it is time to meet at the table and discuss our common fears and hopes instead of using bullying techniques that most of us have tried to teach our children that it is not okay to do.
Chris DeBruler
Hood River
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