Letters to the Editor published in the May 12, 2021 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.
If we don’t know history, we tend to repeat it
The letter referencing “Critical Race Theory” in the May 5, 2021 edition of the Leader begs a response.
No amount of propaganda will erase the fact that the United States of America, even before it became a nation, participated in the appalling and vile slave trade of human beings with dark colored skin, and the horrific and brutal genocide of millions of Native Americans. Human beings with light colored skin committed the vast majority of those sins.
The US, of course, is not alone in this shameful history. Whenever one group of individuals stood to benefit from an arbitrary classification of another group of individuals, they did so throughout history and do so today. To deny that fact is to deny reality.
Science today looks at the concept of race as pseudo-scientific nonsense. We all belong to the human race: we just happen to come from different places on our one the planet.
I highly doubt that any legitimate course of study holds today’s children directly responsible for this nation’s sins. If I am wrong, please document it.
My ancestors arrived on this continent from Europe and Russia after the Civil War, and remained east of the Mississippi and originally in the larger cities. It is not likely that they participated in the slave trade here, (or back home), or that they butchered Native Americans. Yet that fact does not change the truth that the country of my birth, (and the birthplace of my parents and some of my grandparents), committed these crimes against humanity. It is our heritage, ugly as it is.
The fact is that today, this country still maintains policies and practices that benefit one group of individuals at the expense of others. Ample and overwhelming evidence exists to prove that point.
I will cite just one example out of the multitude out there. If you are a farmer of color or are a Native American, to this very day, you most likely will not be able to obtain the necessary loans to conduct business versus a white farmer. For a brief overview, check out a short video from Vice News Tonight for May 5, 2021, on documented, current USDA loan practices involving farmers of color. The American Rescue Plan specifically targets discriminated farmers to correct that imbalance, but white supremacists are working overtime to defeat that bill.
Ignorance and hysteria benefit no one. The tragedy is that if we do not know our history and learn from it, we tend to keep repeating it.
Diana C. Smith
Tomahawk
Wheel tax
Four years ago, we the taxpayers and vehicle owners were told the 20 dollar wheel tax would be used to fix our county roads. Over 28,000 cars and trucks paid this tax and not one road was repaired.
You the Supervisors lied to us. Instead of tightening your belts to balance the budget, you stoled that money for everything except road repair. Now you have voted to extend the wheel tax again. And again, not one dime will go to the Highway Department.
To put it in perspective so that the vehicle owners and taxpayers know how incompetent our county board is, here is a little bit of education. 28,000 cars and trucks equals over $560,000 dollars a year or $2,240,000 over the last 4 years. Add on the now sunset extension it will be $2,800,000 plus.
We the vehicle owners and taxpayers know that you lied to us 4 years ago and the referendum would not be used to fix our highways.
I have no idea who Supervisors Simon, McCrank and Gorski talked to. However I know that Supervisor Friske is the only one that empathized how the voters felt.
If that money had been used to repair our roads .75% would have approved the referendum.
How about putting a $20 wheel tax on every ATV and UTV that are using our county roads. While your at it, why don’t you push the state to make the license fee for ATV’s and UTV’s the same as vehicle registration.
Respectfully,
Sharon Schultz
Tomahawk