We should not be forced to watch protests
The issue of sitting, kneeling or raising a fist by athletes and cheerleaders is a serious conflict between two constitutional rights. On the one hand, every American has the right of peaceful protest and that is part of the greatness of America. What we are witnessing is a vivid exercise of that right and under normal conditions should not be hindered in any manner nor stopped.
On the other hand, an individual who pays to attend and be present at a sports event has a certain right of privacy, i.e., he cannot be forced to be part of a captive audience to someone’s political or social protests if that protest is unrelated to the event on hand and was not on the event program. No one has a right to overtly violate another person’s constitutional rights.
I firmly believe that the protests are improperly conducted and must be stopped.
DAN SIEGEL, DACULA
Charen misrepresents goals of feminism
Mona Charen’s column “How to get conservatives to take sex assault seriously,” Opinion, Sept. 18, on sexual assault completely misrepresents feminism and feminist messages on sexual assault. While one can always find feminist writings that emphasize one element or another, the overall feminist message about sexual assault has three core elements: No. 1: Men must understand sexual assault for the crime that it is and learn all the ways in which it is not OK. No. 2: Women need to be aware and prepared to protect themselves; and No. 3: We all need to work toward a society in which women and girls can participate fully and freely without limits from fear of sexual assault. These have been at the heart of feminist messages at least since the 1980s when I first did sexual assault education. I don’t know why Charen chooses to misrepresent feminism, but I encourage readers to take her columns on this topic with a large grain of salt.
GAIL COWIE, ATLANTA
