Affordable housing issue will take ‘compromise’

Regarding the letter to the editor “ADUs needed” (Aug. 23): All of us serving on Raleigh City Council are doing so because we want to help make our city better. It is quite apparent that some of us have different ideas about how to do that, and that’s okay.

Thus it’s really important, if we want to move forward on issues where we disagree, to reach compromise. The best way to do that is to respectfully listen to the other person’s point of view – not with the immediate intent of rebutting their argument, but with the intent of truly understanding them.

A fellow City Council member has called out some of us for “letting our fears stand in the way of progress” because five of us have reached a compromise on the issue of ADUs. Compromise means neither side gets exactly what it wants; it doesn’t mean anyone is afraid to govern.

No one on the City Council is letting their “fears” get in the way of doing their job. What will get in our way is if we don’t learn to respect each other’s opinions and work together constructively to serve our fellow citizens.

Only liquor?

Regarding the letter to the editor “Don’t privatize” (Aug. 19): I’m both amused and dismayed by claims that the “state alcohol control-model of regulation, like the one utilized in NC” was rated at the top of a most effective policy list.

Privately-owned businesses selling beer and wine are sources of alcohol for both legal age and under-age drinkers. I was shocked to find beer being sold at gas stations in North Carolina when I arrived from a state allowing private “package” stores but limiting service stations to selling gasoline.

Yes, in North Carolina one can fill the tank and grab a six-pack in one convenient stop. But thankfully the availability of liquor products is limited to ABC stores.

To focus only on ABC stores as a component of protection from alcohol-related harm, while ignoring that alcohol is readily available from many privately-owned sources, seems a bit disingenuous. The harm caused by overconsumption of beer and wine is just as real a threat to the public as liquor from ABC stores.

Alcohol control policy should be based on rational strategies addressing all sources of alcohol.

‘Common humanity’

Edwin M. Yoder Jr.’s op-ed “Silent Sam is gone. I didn't expect to feel like this.” (Aug. 24) gives eloquent voice to feelings of those white Southerners who cling to a nostalgic view of the era of white oppression and black slavery. But it is either willingly or unconsciously blind to the “other half” of the story.

Perhaps his ancestor who left his plantation to go fight with Robert E. Lee actually believed he was fighting to defend the homeland. Perhaps, like Robert E. Lee, he held a negative view of slavery. But the fact remains that the South seceded and believed its “homeland” was being “invaded” (which was not true as it was still a part of the United States) because it wanted to preserve a brutal, oppressive system upon which its economy was based.

Like it or not, all white Southerners except the poorest were beneficiaries of that system, and all blacks – including free blacks – suffered under it, some horribly.

Why is it so hard for those defending these symbols of a fight to preserve an evil system to understand the feelings those symbols bring to the “other half” of that system, whose ancestors lived in misery? Where is the common humanity?

‘Vote’

Regarding “Protesters topple Silent Sam Confederate statue at UNC” (Aug. 20): I see people are angry enough to tear down statues. But are they angry enough to vote?

‘Fearful’

Regarding “Protesters topple Silent Sam Confederate statue at UNC” (Aug. 20): We are ashamed, embarrassed and angry about the activities which took place at UNC. We have pondered of late how bronze statues have gained such importance that they can move individuals to violence and hatred upon something so inert and benign.

Why not tear down structures or tear up highways which acknowledge history’s leaders or participants?

Will any of these actions alter peoples’ opinions or preferences? If anything, they will only serve to and widen the divide.

We are fearful of those who scream loudly about morality and historical injustice to justify their violent and criminal behavior. If these people are not held accountable for their ill-advised actions, then they become no better than those against whom they protest.

This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:55 AM.