Eugene weekly., July 16, 2015, Page 5, Image 5

To whom would Templeton assign
responsibility in this case?
Jerry Ritter
Springfi eld
REACTION WAS FINE
In response to Stephina Brewer’s July
9 letter, “Flaunting Chief Wahoo”: Do you
think your reaction was out of line? That is
all that matters. If “enough” others share a
perception, does that make it true? What
are numbers, anyway? We gave them their
meaning, and I give them the meaning of
meaningless.
Worry not about anything of the past.
The past is dead. Your reaction was perfectly
fi ne. None of us are ever “right,” and more
importantly, we are never “wrong.”
Patrick Burian
Eugene
ACT OF KINDNESS
No one likes to be stuck with needles,
so the three of us in the laboratory waiting
room, expectantly waiting our turn to have
our blood drawn, expressed sympathy
when we heard the child crying from the
back room. But you, kind lady with the
beautiful, well-groomed dog sitting in
your lap, took it one step further. When
the mother came out carrying one of her
two boys, him still shedding tears, you
approached them with further words of
comfort and sympathy, offering the boys
pieces of bubble gum you had in your
purse and even expressing to the young
boy how your dog thought that the boy
was so courageous. It was heartwarming
to witness your act of loving kindness, a
simple act that makes our world a better
place.
Stephen White
Luminessence
Eugene
RACIST DELUSIONS
On June 18, our local NAACP held
a vigil in Kesey Square in solidarity
with the victims of the South Carolina
church shooting. Various members of our
community spoke in solidarity against
racism. But American racism is not limited
so narrowly and extends directly to the
violence we commit and support abroad.
When Ajamu Baraka spoke at the
Eugene Human Rights Commission’s
2011 Human Rights Day Celebration, he
emphasized, “Our framework must be
international, and we must understand
the connection between the local and the
global.” Today, he connects the police
brutality and systemic racial discrimination
of Ethiopian Jews in Israel to the ongoing
struggle against racism in America.
After returning from a Palestine/Israel
African Heritage delegation, he wondered
“how anyone with a modicum of humanity
and any sense of morality could reconcile
living in that environment from the spoils of
Palestinian dispossession and degradation
and how any nation could support the
Israeli political project.” He described it as
“the most obscene capitulation to injustice
on the part of the international community
since 1945.”
Black organizers representing Ferguson,
including Black Lives Matter, joined the
Dream Defenders for another trip there.
“The goals were primarily to allow for
the group members to experience and see
fi rsthand the occupation, ethnic cleansing
and brutality Israel has levied against
Palestinians,” wrote Ahmad Abuznaid, co-
organizer of the delegation. “We thought
the connections between the African-
American leadership of the movement
in the U.S. and those on the ground in
Palestine needed to be reestablished and
fortifi ed.”
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse
Cullors said, “This is an apartheid state.
We can’t deny that, and if we do deny it,
we are a part of the Zionist violence.”
Hopefully our local leaders will begin
to understand the intersectionality of
oppression and establish activist solidarity
to help end racist delusions of supremacy
and entitlement wherever and however
they are expressed and promoted in our
community.
Mariah Leung, co-director,
Al-Nakba Awareness Project
Eugene
BERNIE’S LITMUS TEST
Campaign contribution totals are in
for the most recent quarter. I have seen
headlines which proclaim the leading
recipient of dollars to be the leading
candidate. There is no analysis of from
whom the money is coming or the
average size of contribution. In horse-race
coverage of the presidential campaign, the
lead is attributed merely to total dollars
gained.
The best way to destroy this system of
news coverage and infl uence of big money is
to give an individual contribution, volunteer
for and eventually vote for Bernie Sanders
for president. Bernie’s contributions average
$40 and do not come from corporations.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans have
contributed to Bernie Sanders’ campaign.
We all want a constitutional amendment
which would enshrine government’s ability
to regulate the infl uence of big money in
politics. We want a future Supreme Court
to overturn the 2010 Citizens United ruling
(which allowed unlimited contributions to
PACs, which are supposedly not offi cially
connected with campaigns but do in
fact work in concert with campaigns).
Bernie Sanders has said his litmus test for
Supreme Court appointments is the need to
overturn Citizens United.
In the meantime, before we can meet
these goals, the best thing to do to stop the
infl uence of big money is support Bernie
Sanders. Imagine if the highest offi ce in
the country were won through a popular
campaign supported only by citizens, not
corporations? It would be a great victory
for democracy.
Stephen Amy
Eugene
SIX MILLION DEATHS
Adel Gresham [Letters, 7/9, “Expand
Vaccination”] makes a good point about
vaccines needing to reach all to be
effective. Thank goodness that Gavi, the
Vaccine Alliance was funded to reach
another 300 million children in the next
few years. We must make sure America
honors its pledge to Gavi.
Also, forthcoming legislation in
Congress will consider passing into
law reforms to USAID, the offi ce that
provides developmental assistance. These
researched changes will make USAID
more effi cient and transparent, and they
include a report to Congress that will
explain the impact of the money invested.
They will also focus on ending preventable
deaths of children, which is currently
around six million each year.
Taking a few minutes to make a call or
send an email to our representatives asking
them to support this legislation will make a
difference in the lives of millions.
Willie Dickerson
Snohomish, Washington
MEDITATION NEUROSCIENCE
Research Study
locally handmade
jewelry
Healthy adults with 2+ years of
meditation experience are invited to
participate. Pay is $40 - $160.
Interested? Contact Lisa May
at 541.357.9410 or lmay@uoregon.edu.
Find out more at
sanlab.uoregon.edu/meditationneuroscience.
1027 Willamette • (541) 683-5903
EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • JULY 16, 2015
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