Offensive words are offensive, no matter who speaks them

A dean at Whitney Young Magnet High School is accused of making comments that are “racially charged,” but his remarks were only politically incorrect. There is nothing racially charged about opining that George Zimmerman was innocent in the shooting of Trayvon Martin; the jury acquitted him.

Most people would agree with the dean that words are either derogatory or not. The idea that it’s OK for people to use ethnic slurs within their own group is held by a fairly small number, on the left, who believe that people should have more or less latitude depending on their sex, race or other inborn characteristics. The real story here is that CPS allows students to make surreptitious recordings of faculty and that it’s putting a chill on a healthy debate.

Richard Crane, Lincoln Park

How to pay for that North Branch park

I applause for your wonderful editorial on Sunday, “Grab chance to create a green jewel along the North Branch.” It is true that Chicagoans love and need their public parks, and allow me to suggest a way to deal with the cost factor.

The Obama Foundation should now choose a private South Side location for the private Obama Presidental Center instead of its current location in the iconic public Jackson Park. This would save the city and state millions of dollars in street construction costs. It also would enable the Obama Foundation to save Jackson Park, provide the city with funds for the beautiful public park along the North Branch, and give Barack Obama a crowning achievement.

Charlotte Adelman, Wilmette

China flaunts trade rules

The World Trade Organization was created to insure that rational and fair trade rules are imposed on all approved global trading partners. Sadly, just like the United Nations, it has become a joke that allows massive cheating by nations such as China, killing millions of American manufacturing jobs. During the 16 years China has been in the WTO, it has illegally subsidized its manufacturing companies to sell below costs. That’s how China has gone from being a minor player in steel and aluminum production to now controlling 50 percent of the global production.

Meanwhile, the WTO has done zip, zero, nothing to stop this massive cheating.

Randy Rossi, Grayslake