Letters to the Editor: Don’t spray for hornets. Investigate shootings. Defending protesters.

Save black lives

As much as the government says that we are all protected, they continue to show us every single day that white people are more protected than black people. Ahmaud Arbery was hunted and killed in February by two Florida men, who were arrested in May. Two Sacramento cops who shot an unarmed black man in his backyard in 2018 won’t face any charges. Louisville EMT Breonna Taylor was shot in her own home by Louisville police officers. The list goes on and on of these innocent people who are being killed because cops won’t ask questions before they shoot. We are hunted by people who hate us because of our skin color, knowing that we are all humans but will always be seen as animals, no matter how classy we act, no matter where we live.

The government was quick to arrest Mohamed Noor (a black Minneapolis police officer) who was convicted of murder in an on-duty killing of Justine Ruszczyk (a white woman), but won’t charge those two Sacramento cops who shot an unarmed black men in his own backyard. The government is already failing us.

Safi Amisi, Lexington

Kudos to Blackford

Opinions columnist Linda Blackford’s recent piece on distraction politics was excellent. My husband and I are really glad that she is highlighting the distraction campaign that many in the Republican Party are doing to try to distract from the terrible job the president is doing to protect Americans from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Braxton and Beth Crenshaw, Lexington

‘Perfectly normal patriotism’

It is perfectly sensible, and even praiseworthy, to criticize those who intemperately protest at the Capitol with guns drawn. However, it is self-defeating to at the same time launch into a gratuitous diatribe as did some of the letters to the editor recently against the perfectly normal patriotism of some of the protesters. As everyone recognizes, a Southerner who does not in some sense honor the memory of the Confederacy and its symbols, is a traitor both to his state and to his people. Give them a break.

Moreover, to pile on the ironic accusation that the Confederate States of America worked to destroy the United States would be amusing, if it were not so outrageous. Was the European Union destroyed when the United Kingdom left it? Was BREXIT some nefarious act of treason? BREXIT did not destroy the EU. Nor did the exit of 11 southern states from the United States of America “destroy” the United States.

Robert Salyer, Lexington

Stop spraying

I understand that there are in fact some kind of monster killer hornets out there which prey on honeybee hives (as do skunks, hive beetles, mites, etc). Although state apiarist Tammy Potter did say that none have been found in Kentucky, I am afraid that the scare headlines are going to prompt people to start killing all flying insects including honey bees, bumble bees, and our native wasps and hornets. I wish we had someone in this state with the knowledge and environmental clout to make the public understand that the broadcast or indiscriminate spraying of insecticides and herbicides is a bad thing for all life —including humans.

Sally Wasielewski, Lexington

Doggie love letter

Several years ago, we rescued a sweet black lab-mix dog from Lexington Humane Society on Frankfort Pike. He was about 10 months old, thin, and sick with kennel cough. He put his chin on our lap and looked us in the eye when we looked at him. We couldn’t resist taking him home. He became the best dog ever.

When he got well, he was the typical lab pup — high energy, semi-oblivious to rules on behavior. But he was aware of some things, which led us to know someone loved him and tried to wait out his young lab tendencies to be a handful. He was moderately housebroken and one day he saw us misting plants and responded like he thought it was a behavior modifier, quietly lying down.

That told us someone loved him enough to try everything to make living with a young lab tolerable until he was over his crazy days. His attraction to young children told us the former owner likely had children and perhaps became overwhelmed with the added work.

Knowing the sweet boy was loved, I felt I needed to tell the former owner he is safe and has lots of affection.

Arlin Marsh, West Chester, Ohio