Surely, Durham has more pressing issues than this name-calling controversy | Opinion

In response to “DAE president apologizes for calling Durham schools superintendent by first name” (Feb 24):

In formal public meetings — such as school board or district settings — it is customary to use professional titles for all participants: Dr., Mr., Ms., Superintendent, President, and so forth. If the expectation in that meeting was to use formal titles, then consistency would suggest that both Dr. Lewis and Ms. Twietmeyer address one another accordingly.

In this case, however, both individuals used first names. That indicates mutual informality rather than clear disrespect. If titles were used inconsistently, professionalism can reasonably be questioned across the board, regardless of race. If informality was mutual, then framing the matter primarily in racial terms seems misplaced.

The school board surely has more pressing issues before it.

Michael Lyon, Durham

State of the Union trap

In his State of the Union speech, the President was being disingenuous and manipulative when he instructed the members of the chamber to stand if they agreed that “The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.”

The first duty of the American government is to “provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.” It’s not to deport immigrants and to do it in the brutal and indiscriminate way that DHS and ICE agents have been doing it. That’s why Democrats remained seated and why other members of Congress with any semblance of a conscience should have done so as well.

Stephen Miller was dancing for joy, but Lady Justice and heaven were weeping.

Joseph Moran, Durham

Medicaid Cuts

Approximately 25% of older Americans on Medicaid are living with a rheumatic disease. For these patients, care isn’t optional; it’s essential to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life.

As a rheumatologist, I see firsthand how funding cuts to Medicaid are so detrimental for my patients living with arthritis, lupus, and other complex autoimmune diseases. Arthritis is already the country’s leading cause of disability, and failing to invest in the health of these populations may further reduce their ability to work. Cutting Medicaid funding doesn’t just harm patients, it weakens our workforce, burdens caregivers, and increases healthcare costs for everyone.

At a time when our system is already under strain, we should be strengthening, not dismantling, the programs that keep our most vulnerable neighbors healthy.

Mary Anne Dooley, MD, Clayton

Nvidia chips

Vladimir Lenin, one of the founders of the Russian Communist Party, famously said, “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” We can only hope that the Trump administration’s approval of the sale of Nvidia’s most powerful computer chip technology to China and Middle Eastern nations over the objections of national security experts will not prove Comrade Lenin correct.

Scott Shuford, Hillsborough

Voter challenges

I am opposed to the new permanent rules to govern voter challenges based on non-citizenship proposed by the NC Board of Elections.

Non-citizen voting is exceedingly rare. A comprehensive audit by the Heritage Foundation found only 99 cases of non-citizen voters from 1982-2025; an average of 2.3 cases per year. Yet the Republican-controlled NCBOE has the audacity to challenge the citizenship of 241,000 North Carolinian registered voters based on mismatches with a flawed database, even though they explicitly acknowledge that the discrepancies are most likely due to typographical errors, not problems with eligibility.

These scare tactics fit in with a larger misinformation campaign to sow distrust and undermine the public’s faith in elections at all levels.

Mark McClure, Durham

Paying back tariffs

In declaring Mr. Trump’s tariffs illegal, the Supreme Court was silent about who should receive the tariff revenue. Since he claims foreigners paid the tariff, will he return the money to them? Customs data will show which American businesses paid the tariff at the border. Will he reimburse those Americans?

Most economists are persuaded by principles and facts that most American businesses passed the tariffs on to American consumers in the form of higher prices. How soon can American consumers be expected to receive their reimbursement for their illegal payments?

Thomas Grennes, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Agricultural and Resource Economics, North Carolina State University