Column fuels barriers for ‘returning citizens’
As the mother of a future “ex-con,” I am saddened by this Thomas Sowell’s column (“ ‘Banning box’ on criminal records is harmful plot,” Opinion, Oct 19). My son is currently incarcerated in Georgia and when he gets out, he will be a convicted felon. First off, our media needs to stop referring to them as “ex-cons” and use the new politically sensitive term, “returning citizen.”
When my son returns to life, he will face barriers beyond the checking of the box. The ban-the-box law that was enacted is simply to postpone the automatic rejection that a computer will do when that box is checked on an initial application until the interview stage where a background check can be done. This gives the returning citizen a chance to explain who they really are.
You see Mr. Sowell, not all inmates are guilty as charged, especially men of color. By generalizing the conversation around racism, it only fuels the barriers all returning citizens face, and that is the ability to get hired.
KATE BOCCIA, ALPHARETTA
Where has civil discourse gone?
I don’t want presidential campaigns to be entertaining anymore. I don’t want candidates to be melodramatic caricatures of real human beings. I don’t want hyperbole, vulgarity, slander, discourtesy and paranoia to count as strengths. I don’t want information to be monopolized by only two political interest groups. Politicians and their media machines are bleeding out our capacity for civil discourse, human discovery, national wellness and basic compassion toward others of our species. Such a disintegration of potential will only lead to an authoritarian regime.
EDDIE ROSS, MARIETTA
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