Letters

Unequal school funding

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court addressed only racial segregation, accepting the constitutionally obvious, that U.S. public education must be equal for all.

And obviously, unequal funding cannot produce equal public education. Funding a child’s school as presently — proportional to the price of his or her family’s home — ignores the “given” in Brown, that constitutionally, U.S. public education must be equal.

Single-payer universal health care is a popular demand. Why not single-payer equally funded public education? Present public education funding should be challenged in court; it is as unconstitutional as racial segregation.

Judith Segard HuntBerkeley CA

Lovely ad

I’m so sorry I let my subscription lapse for the first time in 40 years. My daughter Peggy kept calling me each day to ask if I’d seen the PWW and I hadn’t. I think all the hoopla and hubbub about my 85th birthday threw me off track.

Anyhow, Peg brought me her paper to see the birthday ad. It’s just great — you did a lovely job — even a friend in Chicago called me about it. I’m the only one who hadn’t seen it! Here’s my check. Please renew my sub.

Ruth GoldmanSouthfield MI

Anti-communism is not progress

The following is adapted from a letter sent to MoveOn.org.

While I wholeheartedly support your campaign around FOX News and its absurd claim of objective reporting, I am very disturbed by the use of anti-communism in your July 20 New York Times ad. (“The Communists had Pravda. Republicans have FOX.”)

Our country has its own homegrown Communist Party — a history that consists of struggling for a peaceful world, equality, justice, workers’ rights and socialism. That history also includes truth telling about who does the work in our country and who profits, about who starts the wars — and why — and who dies in them.

Anti-communism has done terrible damage, and not just to those who espouse socialism, but to every movement for progress and democracy. During the McCarthy period, thousands of people in the labor, peace and other movements — really, anyone who challenged the status quo — were persecuted, fired, deported, silenced.

We’ve all seen the similarities between those dark years and the present. There are many people who consider themselves “left,” socialists and Communists, among the millions of Americans who are working to defeat Bush and his ultra-right gang. MoveOn has done groundbreaking work. I admire your unifying and broad approach. But you shouldn’t use anti-communism, even in small doses, to advance that work.

Elena MoraBronx NY

The author is the chairperson of the NY State Communist Party.

Critique and renewal

Please re-enter my subscription. Check for $30 is enclosed. I found the July 24-30 issue to be excellent with clear facts about environmental issues and space militarization, which I know a good deal about but have not been able to condense effectively. Your writers are unusually good on a regular basis.

I continue to be upset with your criticism of third party or independent party voices. There is a need to bring strong voices against the corporatization of our country’s elections to a larger audience, not squelch dissent to the Democratic Leadership Council positions.

I also think the AFL-CIO must be held accountable for accepting and cooperating with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which is funding U.S. involvement in the overthrow of Central American governments. Investigative reporting on the use of NED funds would be welcomed by many. Unfortunately, the AFL-CIO leadership has not been cautious about the motivation of the NED and harm has resulted.

Rosamund EvansAlbuquerque NM

Disappointed reader

I was disappointed in your story about the crisis in Sudan (PWW 7/17-23) where you refer to attacks by Arab Sudanese on “Black Africans” in Darfur. Please consider that all the Sudanese people are Black and African. When I read the same mistake in my corporate-owned daily I assumed they were trying, once again, to demonize Arabs.

Joe BernickTucson AZ

Freedom Summer

I am a student participating in the New American Freedom Summer program. I was delighted to find the article “Activists prepare for ‘freedom summer’” by Rosalio Muñoz (PWW 7/3-9). Other press organizations do not understand how important or historic the work is, as well as enduring over six weeks of summer in the hot, 100-degree-plus Arizona sun, or the intense humidity of Florida to help empower communities.

Mr. Hollis Watkins [a participant in the 1964 Freedom Summer] was a fresh breath of inspiration for many of us and hearing his stories gave us a stronger sense of determination for the mission.

Again, I thank People’s Weekly World and Rosalio Muñoz for the press coverage we received.

Gabriel CruzGlendale AZ

Soldier’s story

Great article: “Soldier’s mom reveals Iraq nightmare,” by Susan Webb (PWW, 4/24-30). Too bad we do not read about this in our local papers. I am forwarding the article to others. Please tell this mother my heart goes out to her and the family.

President Bush talks about serving our country, but I do not see any of his daughters or Jeb Bush’s sons joining the reserves or fighting in Iraq. Nor did the sons of the first President Bush serve in war. Disgusting how our boys are being taken care of and lied to.

SueSarasota FL