LETTERS: Don’t insult Chicagoans who voice their views

How dare Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) compare the taxpayers of the 45th Ward to skinheads? Since his ignorance concerning “whatever we are” shows narrow-mindedness, I will explain it so even he should understand. We are citizens of Chicago voicing our opposition to a development that never fit the housing model that our residents agree on.

Yes, we like the serenity that comes from years of sweat and sacrifice. No we don’t like an ugly, oversized, unwanted project force-fed to us. Our resources are stretched razor-thin like every other ward. An influx of residents at that location would severely tax the infrastructure already overburdened by neglect from City Hall.

I never have judged an ethical and moral person by the contents of their wallets or the color of their skin. But even a simpleton can unmask the true nature of his narrow-mindedness. I will await his public apology.

James Placha Jefferson Park

Constitutional rights

In light of recent NFL players’ varying decisions about what to do during the playing of our national anthem, I think Colin Kaepernik should no longer be boycotted. Professional football teams needing a quarterback(there are several even this early in the season) should compete to hire him.

There are many reasons for Americans to choose not to stand for our national anthem. One prominent stated reason is concern about racial injustice. For a white woman who has seldom felt I was the victim of any kind of discrimination, I will, in the future, refuse to stand for the national anthem. My reasoning? Hundreds of thousands of Americans have died to protect our Constitution and its guaranteed right of free speech.

I resent being told that I MUST stand for the anthem and see that as an attack on that guaranteed freedom. When I fail to stand, I am expressing my right to freely express myself. As I sit or kneel, I am actually standing up for the constitutional rights of all Americans!

Karen Wagner, Rolling Meadows

A stirring history

As I watch the protests during the national anthem before NFL games, I decided to do a little research into how prior generations of Americans acted in the presence of our flag. At Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, effectively securing our independence, African-American troops constituted approximately one quarter of Washington’s army. When Francis Scott Key wrote that “our banner was still there,” William Williams, a former slave serving in the 38th Infantry was killed in the bombardment of Fort McHenry. At Appomattox Court House, regiments of United States Colored Troops cut off the retreat of Lee’s army, ending the Civil War and slavery.

One week later the flag covered the casket of the Great Emancipator. In the Battle of the Argonne Forest, Henry Johnson won the Medal of Honor while sustaining 21 wounds single-handedly saving injured comrades from a German attack. Decades later, dozens of our country’s flags surrounded Dr. Martin Luther King as he marched in Selma. It’s a pretty stirring history that the NFL protesters should consider before sitting or kneeling when our flag is honored.

Ron Cobb, North Barrington

Divisive president

Donald Trump, who will be forever known as that divisive president, finally was able to become a unifier — for the National Football League.

Edwin Stone, Northbrook

Hardly ethical

Let me see if I get this straight. First J.B. Pritzger rips all the toilets out of his properties to get them classified as uninhabitable. Then Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the Ricketts family and their Wrigleyville buddies install toilets and apartments attached to their businesses so they can call them “residential.” Next, if they are smart, they hire Mike Madigan’s firm to help lower their taxes. They plead their case to Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios and his extended family and get windfall tax breaks. Finally they all pass each other campaign donations to ensure they can do it all again next year.

Meanwhile the honest citizens of Chicago pay for their legal but hardly ethical deeds. Sound about right?

Chris Salus, Edison Park