Nonpartisan committee needed for districting maps
News about gerrymandering seems to be everywhere … in the AJC, on radio and TV. A decision of the federal court in North Carolina overturned maps because of extreme partisan gerrymandering. Two cases currently before the Supreme Court involve Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin and Democratic map-rigging in Maryland. Georgia has its own problems with gerrymandering. Currently, the Georgia General Assembly draws electoral maps for Georgia. Asking legislators to draw the maps to their own and their colleagues’ districts puts them in an impossible moral and ethical bind. Few of us would have the strength of character to put aside our own desire for power or the demands of our political party to join in its creation of districts to give it ongoing power. We must protect politicians from this temptation and provide a new system with an independent nonpartisan redistricting committee. Georgians need a system that is open, transparent, and accountable.
PAT BYRD, OF FAIR DISTRICTS GA
Immigrants among hardest workers, students
I taught history at a Georgia community college for a number of years. Some of my best students were from Africa. One of my World History students had seen the remnants of slave trading facilities in his country that I referenced in my lecture. His dedication to advancement and his work ethic were extraordinary. I gladly recommended him for further education as a medical professional. In my American History class, a young African woman knew nothing of our history, unlike the other students. She got the highest grade in the class with near-perfect test scores. English was not the first language of either of these students. This is anecdotal evidence of course, but I find it more compelling than anything that comes out of the president’s mouth regarding Africa.
TOM WALKER, ROSWELL
Too many are easily influenced by media
I was listening to NPR the other day and a discussion of the difference in survey results when the question was phrased “we (the country)” vs “you (individually)” in a survey of millennials (20 to 34-year-olds). When asked how the country was doing, overwhelmingly the response was the country was headed in the wrong direction. When asked how they were personally doing, the overwhelming response was optimistic; they were anticipating improvement (better standard of living) for themselves and their families. The university professor who did the survey was flummoxed and couldn’t explain the dichotomy. Why were individuals so optimistic for themselves, yet so pessimistic for the whole?
I think the answer is simple. Folks know when things are getting better for themselves. Personal experience. But for the whole, their opinion is shaped by the media propaganda. Which is largely negative.
In today’s world with all the access to information we have in the digital age, it is very sad a large number of people just accept what they are told without questioning. Unbelievable these folks don’t do simple research and are so easily influenced.
BOYD HINNANT, MABLETON
Americans see a fearless leader in Trump
It’s amazing how a leader like President Trump can utter a few harsh words like a real man and turn the PC world on its ear, with those who don’t like him whining from D.C. to Timbuktu. The half of us who elected him don’t want him to be appeasing, bowing and apologizing to other world leaders. We want a strong, fearless leader in the mold of Abraham Lincoln, FDR, Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Ronald Reagan, not a liberal pacifier.
While the President is standing up to North Korea, Russia, China and terrorists, the spoiled half of America is whining and complaining to the swamp that the the president is a bully, a moron, and they aren’t getting enough money and rights out of our government. Half of our country would roll over for more liberal government support and in the face of adversity. That is truly sad.
ROBERT REDMOND SR., CANTON
