Wednesday Letters: Giuliani sells Chicago short

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani really tried to knock Chicago on “Face the Nation” Sunday by mentioning the number of murders that have occurred in 2016. He failed to mention how our residents have dealt with the homicides and crimes — there have been peaceful marches and protests, which means residents are acting civilly.

I sincerely believe Giuliani owes Chicago an apology for his description of Chicago’s crimes and homicides — he failed to name other cities which have had increases in homicides and citizens have resorted to violence. Giuliani must not be keeping up on the news since he can only mention Chicago as an example of violence.

Giuliani made Chicago a scapegoat for the violence occurring throughout our country. He is misleading others by blaming our city for all homicides. When Giuliani starts getting his facts straight, I’ll listen to him.

M.L. Chin, Lincoln Park

A simple truth

Black Lives Matter.

This statement should not be controversial or scary. It should just be truth. It should not require addendums and edits to make people feel more at ease. When one group of people has continually been and continues to be targeted/killed, we should just accept this simple statement and actively work to make sure that black life does matter, every day, all the time.

Dave Stieber, Hyde Park

Two human beings

Waiting in line for my sandwich to be made, the man behind me and I struck up a small joking conversation about how big one sandwich could grow. As we approached the cashier, he suddenly said, ” I would like to pay for this young lady’s sandwich.” I was totally taken aback and as I had my money clutched in my hand, my dad’s early training took over and I politely declined his offer saying, “My dad taught me to be self-reliant and always to be prepared. He always gave me money for cab fare on date night in case things did not go well. So I must pay my own way.”

He laughed and I did, too, and I gave him my chips. And then I said to him something I have said before to young people who showed particular kindness and compassion. “Sir, I want you to go home and tell your mother that she raised a perfectly wonderful young man.” We smiled and parted ways.

P.S. One of us is black. One of us is white. Both of us are human beings.

R.S. Hosek, Near North Side

Summer in Chicago

Summer is here. Chicago offers countless superb opportunities to locals and visitors alike to engage in activities that will go a long way to defeat the stressful, anxiety-ridden, violence-connected scenarios to which we have all been exposed. The pathetic, embarrassing behavior of diverse groups that threaten to destabilize our beloved city cannot be permitted to triumph.

There are festivals and venues of myriad kinds that beckon us—cultural, culinary, musical, artistic, theater, dance, athletic, etc. What more could one ask for?

Our beleaguered, exhausted populace can gain immense psychic benefit from involvement with such events. So, please waste no time to get out there and become involved in the splendid, endless, civilized things available to us.

Consider this prescription as a plea to make the most of the superb possibilities available to us. I want Chicago to not only succeed but to thrive and perhaps even prevail, don’t you?

Leon J. Hoffman, Lake View

Merge health care systems

If the veterans health care system can’t be turned around why not put veterans into the Medicare system? Why have 2 parallel systems that are separate and not equal? The military is primarily tasked with fighting and winning wars not providing health care.

Thomas Cechner, Lockport

The tax we need

Nothing will change our financial crisis until the mayor and governor get it into their dense 1 percent heads — we need a progressive income tax to generate much needed new revenue.

Stop protecting the 1 percent, and protect our students by providing sufficient funds for education. “Stopgap” funds are paying up what is past due, and by the end of year we will right back where we started. Obviously, we need smart leadership since what we have is NOT working, for anybody.

Ann Gutierrez Tinley Park