Letters to the Editor

The Cape Gazette |LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sara Ford
January 28, 2022

As we move into Black History Month, we have the opportunity not only to learn about and to honor the stories, the lives, the accomplishments, the discoveries, the grit and strength of Black people, but also the responsibility to ask why should Black History be relegated to only a month, when, in fact, Black history is American history, as central to the story of our nation as is white history?

In the February edition of Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice’s “Black Voices,” Hanifah Ouro-Sama speaks most eloquently to this point. She writes: “I was expected to learn about George Washington during history class; expected to interpret the works of Edgar Allen Poe during English class; and expected to study the findings of IsaacNewton during science class. The same attention, however, was never given to Black political scholars like W.E.B. Du Bois, Black authors like Alice Walker, or Black scientists like George Washington Carver. It seemed as though our curriculum set aside teaching the contributions about Black people until February rolled around.”

Read the entire Letter to the Editor here.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A tribute to Aimee Wiest
Mary Boyd
The Cape Gazette |January 18, 2022

The tributes will surely pour in for Aimee Wiest, and many will emphasize certain causes for which she was associated. The aspect of her character and personality most important, however, was her tolerance.

Aimee was not a virtue signaler. She did not object if others were, but she herself did not feel the necessity of requiring certain political views of others either by her demeanor, her body language or her comments.

Always open to learning, she saw merit in expanding her horizons rather than solidifying fixed positions. She did not look to be validated; she looked to learn new ways of looking at “old” issues. These are the characteristics of an excellent teacher.

An excellent teacher does not steer students to a particular point of view; an excellent teacher introduces students to the full range of experience and position, and assists them in how to question it. This skill of critical thinking becomes a lifelong habit and is the gift given to students by those who understand what teaching really is.

Aimee Wiest gave this to all she taught and, in addition, exemplified the noblest attributes to all she knew personally.

Mary Boyd
Lewes

The Cape Gazette | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Thomas M. Connelly
September 10, 2021

Last Sunday during a busy Labor Day weekend, a diverse crowd of 235 Lewes community members turned out for a rally to implore the Mayor and City Council to keep the menhaden fish net reel on the grounds of the Lewes Historical Society. A local rally of this size, over a holiday weekend no less, clearly demonstrates that the Lewes community values this significant historical structure and wants it to remain in place.

Speakers at Sunday’s rally shared how the menhaden fishing industry was a pivotal turning point for local African Americans in the midst of Jim Crow. These laborers’ essential contributions helped determine the success of the critical menhaden fishing industry for our community. The Rev. George H. Edwards Sr. spoke of the migration of the workers and their families from Virginia to Lewes. Robert Kennedy, a former employee of the fish factory, said there was equal pay, which created an opportunity to buy homes in our town and led to unique racial integration during the Jim Crow era. Tim Timmons, whose parents worked at the fish factory, pointed out the house that his parents (his mother still lives there) were able to purchase due to that employment. Alicia Jones gave a historical account of the African Americans who lived and worked in Lewes, and Esthelda Parker Selby shared the personal experiences of her mother and other factory employees. Trina Brown-Hicks played a live recording of songs sung by her father and others as they worked on “The Reel.”

Read the entire Letter to the Editor here..

CAPE GAZETTE | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Sara Ford and Charlotte King
July 23, 2021

Summertime at Rehoboth Beach.  People from all walks of life fill the streets, sit on the beaches with friends, family, walk the Boardwalk, enjoying Boardwalk food, maybe stopping off at Funland.  There is an exception to this idyllic image, the moment one passes a store with a doll of Dr. Anthony Fauci hanging from a surgical mask on public display.

First, this particular doll is a symbol that supports non-compliance with public policy.  Except for the brief period when no one yet understood COVID-19’s form of contagion, particles from our mouths, Dr. Fauci has pleaded with the nation to wear masks.  Immediately there arose the cry of individual rights. Yet mask wearing is really about every individual’s right, their right to live.  By wearing a mask, a person is taking care of others around him or her.  It is a highly effective means of controlling the spread of COVID, which has killed over 600,000 people in the U.S. so far.  Dr. Fauci is the spokesperson for mask-wearing.  Putting this symbol in a toy display deliberately defies his pleas to do something that is for all public good.

Read the entire Cape Gazette Letter to the Editor here.

CAPE GAZETTE – LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Charlotte King |April 19, 2021 

Senate Bill 15 already passed by the Delaware Senate, would raise the minimum wage in Delaware from $9.25 per hour to $15 per hour by 2025.  Here it is important to note that the bill would gradually increase the minimum wage by just over $1 each year starting next year. Specifically, $10.50 by 2022; $11.75 by 2023; $13.25 by 2024 and $15 by 2025.

Nonpartisan groups have provided detailed analyses describing the benefits of raising the minimum wage for Delaware’s diverse population and for the economy, as well. According to David Cooper, senior analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, with the minimum wage at $15, SB 15 would increase the wages of almost “122,000 Delaware workers or approximately 28 percent of the state’s wage-earning workforce.”  Yet, one of Sussex County’s representatives, Ruth Briggs King, 37th District, Sussex County, opposes SB 15 because she believes the bill will hurt business more than help.

To read the entire Letter to the Editor click here.

Cape Gazette / Letter to the Editor

SDARJ calls for retaining net reel at LHS

Sara Ford
December 18, 2020

If, as we move from this horrendous 2020 into a more hopeful 2021, we are committed to racial justice, we must do more than state our support for Black Lives Matter and other groups standing for racial and social justice. We must find ways to serve that commitment with action. Keeping the menhaden net wheel where it currently stands on the main Lewes Historical Society campus rather than removing it (scheduled for Jan. 31) would be such an action.

Read the entire Letter to the Editor here.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice, to condemn the anti-Semitic remarks made by Nelly Jordan, vice chair of the Sussex County Republican Committee.  As you may know, SDARJ is a nonpartisan organization, and, as such, we do not write this condemnation against a party, but against […]

On Aug. 24, I attended the Georgetown Prospect AME Church fundraiser where Mr. Bryan Stevenson, a former member of the church, was the keynote speaker. In June, a well-attended George White historical dedication and marker was unveiled in New Castle. Mr. Stevenson and I spoke about the marker’s recent disappearance. The 10 feet high historical […]