IMMIGRATION
Address causes, don’t waste money on walls
Once again, we have a politician making allegations about the perils of legal and illegal immigration (“No back-door amnesty,” Opinion, July 18). Most of U.S. Rep. Gingrey’s assertions are either political hyperbole or myths proven false time and again.
Rather than perpetuating vote-grabbing immigration hysteria and myths that smack down legal and illegal immigrants (for example, “They take our jobs”), what is needed now is sober, thoughtful, reflective consideration of the matter.
We could begin by investigating the causes of illegal immigration, which are vexingly complex and are certainly not solved by the politically appealing — but utterly pointless — idea of spending millions of taxpayer dollars to build and police a wall from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, an act that will merely test the ingenuity of those attempting illegal entry to the U.S.
Politicians should instead be considering what economic, political and legal actions could render such a wall unnecessary.
STEVE DECLAISSE-WALFORD, GRAYSON
ZIMMERMAN TRIAL
Being black no reason to be followed, killed
No one really understands what it is to be black in America. From the time you can be groomed, you are taught what you can and cannot do because of the color of your skin. As you get older, you become immune to it. Then, a tragedy strikes to remind you that even though there are good people who don’t care about the color of your skin, there are people who do.
I realize the legal system is at work, and the jurors in the Zimmerman trial had all the evidence, but in what legal system is it OK for a 17-year-old to be followed and killed for no reason other than being profiled? What does this say about our society?
I pray that one day we will become enlightened; that we will reach that point where we realize we don’t have to lock our doors when we are at a corner and see a young African-American male. One day we will realize that child could be a straight-A student on his way to Harvard, and we are the ignorant ones.
MYRA LEE, ALPHARETTA
Cartoon just throws more gas on the fire
Most days, when I open my AJC to see how outrageously out of touch Mike Luckovich is, I am fairly amused. However, when I saw his cartoon (Opinion, July 17) implying the George Zimmerman trial was Mickey Mouse justice, it turned my stomach. I could have sworn I heard a “not guilty” verdict announced.
Apparently, Mike was in court and in the jury room during deliberations, so he knows firsthand that the verdict was unjust. Is Mike suggesting we move to an “American Idol” approach and let the country vote however it feels, no matter the facts?
All Mike is doing, in my opinion, is to show he is nothing more than one of those uninformed protesters shouting in the street. It’s sad to see him toss more gas on the fire.
GREG JOHNSON, JOHNS CREEK
