Letters to the editor: COVID-19, protests, listening, National Guard, masks

COVID-19 spread

At a March choir practice in Washington state, one person with Covid 19 infected 53 of 61 people. Three were hospitalized and two died.

The Boise school district reports that 85 percent of parents are willing to send their kids back to school if “certain safety protocols are enforced.” As if that’s some sort of green light to reopen.

The ridiculous question on their survey reveals that the administration and 85 percent of parents don’t realize this virus can be spread for two weeks by people with no symptoms. I sent the following questions to the district, and have not received an answer:

What will you do if half the kids don’t come back this August? How will a teacher teach kids online and in the classroom at the same time? What if teachers refuse to come back or sue you for firing them? What if they contract the virus? Or they die of it and their families sue you? Or a child learns he spread the virus to his grandparents? How can we turn non-violent prisoners loose to stop the virus spread and then fill our overcrowded schools with kids?

Dale Keys, Boise

More listening

I thank God daily that I was born “white” and not “black.” Why? Because I don’t think anything has changed since the race riots of the ’60s. This week I went to a couple of social distanced ladies’ groups. They talked about looting and riots. Not one person talked about “peaceful marches” or what changes we can make as a community to help our country heal. They didn’t discuss the pain and fear blacks feel because of prejudice and the senseless murders of blacks by white citizens. Why aren’t Christians and our senators also marching with the protesters, holding up “their bible” that teaches “love thy neighbor” and saying, “We hear you and we want to be part of the solution, not the problem.” This should not be Republican vs. Democrats. The solution is listening, understanding, compassion, action and change.

Judie Dietzler, Meridian

National Guard

I hope all of the citizens of Idaho fully appreciate and understand the honor being bestowed on our Idaho National Guard. Please consider they have been selected over all other Guard units to protect our country’s most cherished national monuments. Our entire law-abiding citizens are counting on them to preserve Grant’s Tomb, the Vietnam War Memorial, and all of the other precious monuments of our nation’s history. These men and women from Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon are volunteers and seasoned soldiers from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are mangers, supervisors, farmers, ranchers, bankers, nurses, dental hygienists, and others who have left wives, children, and family. These are true Americans and some of our best. Please support them on this important mission. I believe all lives matter!

Robert Mihm, Meridian

Protests

With the protests on fatal confrontations with black men and women by police and marches to show that Black Lives Matter, one disturbing occurrence on Idaho streets is the hoard of armed citizens that are there to stop the “antifa” disrupters. I googled who these organized groups are and found a hodgepodge of loose groups that show up to rallies of the KKK, and other neo-Nazi groups, to disrupt. Many of them pack guns and are sometimes violent. They are not pacifists, but one of their gigs is to educate on what these alt-right fascist groups represent. With all the armed people in Boise and Coeur d’Alene, how many were anti-fascist, white nationalist fascist or just regular folks who wanted to protect our buildings? I think we all need to discuss this in a public forum before it goes bad in our communities. All it would take is one shot to cause mayhem. I take a knee for all the anti-fascists that fought in World War II to stomp on Hitler and Mussolini, my dad was in that antifa group. We all need to talk this out before it goes too far.

Gordon Sanders, Coeur d’ Alene

Wear a mask

I am one of those weird old ladies that you see wearing a mask when I go shopping. I don’t wear it because I look so fetching in a mask, but to protect others from possible virus. Just because you think you are symptom-free doesn’t mean you don’t have the possibility of spreading the virus. Why don’t you care about others? I prefer to shop at businesses that require a mask, as I feel that they care about the safety of their customers. If you refuse to wear a mask, at least do me the courtesy of maintaining your distance from me when shopping. I am appalled at how many don’t seem to know about the virus, or simply can’t be bothered taking precautions to protect others.

Mary H. Reed, Caldwell