Readers write: tough on crime laws; innovation and climate; cursive writing

Letters to the editor for the March 28, 2016 weekly magazine.

Readers Respond

Tough on crime met a need
Congratulations for the wonderful reporting in the March 14 online article “Why many black voters don’t blame Hillary for tough-on-crime laws” (CSMonitor.com). Younger voters are not familiar with recent history, and are not aware of the very high crime rate in the United States during the late 1980s and early ’90s, occurring especially among minority races.

I was witness to and a victim of crime during this period. I was a victim of personal theft and my apartment was robbed. My friend was physically assaulted. My friends and I are all African-Americans. The smaller as well as the larger community had reached an end to ways and means to reduce crime. At that time the three-strikes law was supported by a vast majority – black and white.

Hillary Clinton has been around a long time, which necessarily means she has grown and changed through the years. How unfair to judge her for the past. It is the present that counts.
Jackie Reid
Tujunga, Calif.

Don’t forget climate in innovation
The March 14 Monitor’s View “Advice for a world in search of innovation, not doomsayers” seemed to have an uplifting message. It painted a hopeful future for our children with high hopes that our economy will improve lives as it continues innovating and increasing productivity. Too bad it left out five very important words: if we address climate change.
Kathleen A. Brazaitis
Stevens Point, Wis.

Sign of the times
The March 7 Home Forum essay, “In praise of cursive writing,” on the demise of cursive writing could possibly be extrapolated into our broader society. In the current technological culture, in which people communicate in impersonal ways and face-to-face discussion is fading, one could say that this approach to the exchange of ideas doesn’t impart the same warmth as a thoughtful, handwritten note.
Joan Rossano
Alvin, Texas