Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you see something you disagree with or think is incorrect, please tell us! Call us at 312-222-2460.
Shocked by shootings: I recently read in Speak Out that a person was disgusted with how a black person shot a white police officer in front of his child. I am also thoroughly disgusted, but I would like to ask this caller if he or she is thoroughly disgusted by what just happened in South Carolina. An unarmed black man running away was shot multiple times in the back by a white police officer. It was caught on camera. The officer said the man ran off with his Taser. That was his reason for shooting him in the back multiple times. I’m saying this to open this caller’s eyes to let him or her know that there are bad people and good people. Fortunately, good people outweigh the bad people. These sort of things cause collateral damage to the good people. I want people to look at everyone not as black people and white people but as just people.
Don’t knock “Black Girls Rock”: My comment is to the caller who talked about First Lady Michelle Obama and “Black Girls Rock.” I think this person got the wrong message about what the first lady was trying to do. Let me enlighten you. Who do you see in commercials modeling dresses? It’s always the pretty, petite white women. Who gets the big jobs? The good-looking white women. I’m not saying this to ridicule white women. Kudos to them. Michelle Obama’s message is to inspire black women to do better things. She wants to build self-esteem among black women. It’s not a racial thing. It’s a cultural thing. So don’t misconstrue the message that Michelle Obama is sending to young black girls. She just wants them to do better. Try to understand sometimes instead of ridiculing. Have a little understanding and tolerance.
Teach your children well: For the caller who didn’t like the article about young people having firearms, I wonder if that person has seen in the last few years how young people have found firearms in their homes and shot their brother or sister. If they knew how to handle firearms, maybe there wouldn’t have been a shooting. They would learn that a firearm is not a plaything. I had a firearm when I was eight years old. My father taught me how to handle it so I knew it was not a play toy. Times have changed. People nowadays have loaded handguns in their homes that they keep for protection. Maybe they are the ones who should be taking lessons on how to keep firearms in their homes.
Vexed about sex commercials: Here’s my question. It’s the same question my children asked me. What is an erection, and how do you keep it when you’re over a certain age? As a parent of children watching television, isn’t it enough that we have these commercials with ladies lying in bed and people holding hands in bathtubs saying that if they can’t get an erection, take a pill? Enough is enough. Air these commercials after 10 o’clock when kids are in bed. Come on, people. Wake up. How do parents explain to children ages 8 and 9 what an erection is while they’re watching television?
Concern about Quran: To the caller who agrees with President Obama that radical terrorists are not Muslims, I want to know what cave you’ve been hiding in all these years. Don’t you know that the terrorists get all of their orders from the Quran that tells them to kill the infidels like you and me who don’t follow Muhammad? In the Quran, it says to cut off their heads and crucify them. Wake up. Don’t believe everything you hear. If you do, you are a fool.
Control growth: I read the article on the Longmeadow bridge project. The Kane County board and some village presidents claim they need this bridge. The village president of Carpentersville said we should cut down 7,000 trees and replace them with 10,000 trees. Whoop-de-doo. They are going to be twigs compared to the trees they will take out. The environmental impact is huge. They also talk about the county increasing by 270,000 new residents. Isn’t it the county board’s job to control growth? At some point, you can’t grow anymore. We are there. They are missing the boat with the way they’re looking at things. Every city, county and state in this country has no clue on how to control growth anymore.
Don’t be lax about paying taxes: I have a question. I see all these landscaping trucks and businesses that are run out of people’s homes. I have heard that the men report their wives’ incomes and don’t count what they make on landscaping. That’s not fair. We have to pay taxes. Why don’t they?
Angst about Aurora: Much of Aurora is now about deterioration and abandonment. The steady exodus of stable businesses and families over the last 25 years has left the city looking tired and ragged. It’s only getting worse. The return of shootings is the latest reality even in our finer, older neighborhoods. It’s accelerating the downward descent. The foundation of a once prominent city is continuing to crumble.
Perturbed by potholes: When is the Village of North Aurora going to fill the massive potholes by the old bowling alley? Many people travel this route every day on their way to the unemployment office and OSHA. There is also a giant size crater pothole by Cinemark Tinseltown USA movie theater.
Riled by Rauner: I am speaking out as to Governor Rauner. I think they should get rid of him. It would be better for all the people in Illinois with what he is doing with his money. He doesn’t care about regular people.
Ownership of USA: My comment comes in the form of a question. I keep hearing politicians say during their campaign speeches or just in general that they have come to take back our country or we need to take back our country. My question is: Who took our country? I know China has a big financial hand in our country, so eventually we will all have to learn how to speak Chinese. Everyone thinks we’ll have to learn Spanish, but that’s not true. Back to my question. Who has our country?
