Letters for June 20, 2019

Re: “The fight for Black Lives Matter” by Raheem F. Hosseini (News, June 6):

Exactly the same is happening to the LGBT community. We all need to learn how to respect each other’s views and be willing to reach compromises amongst ourselves to further our interest.

The people who belong to BLM and the LGBT community have core interests within their respective groups that are the same. I would say they have more in common than not. These types of fractures amongst people with shared values is giving us people like Donald Trump. I am not saying these groups are the same, but just an example of two groups tearing each other apart when there are bigger fish to fry.

Henry Benavidez

West Sacramento / via Facebook

Inclusion, even for cops

Re: “Police have no place in gay liberation” by J. Ama Mantey (Essay, June 13):

As a longtime reporter who had the great pleasure of reporting on and knowing Harvey Milk in San Francisco in the 1970s, J. Ama Mantey’s point of view would have disgusted him. His focus—whether in those original, legendary Pride parades, or in political office—was to bring inclusion, not exclusion to the gay community. There are now tens of thousands of LGBTQ police officers in the United States, which is a good thing. In every activist movement, there is always a subset of individuals who don’t want acceptance or inclusion, but rather an endless glorification of their “marginalization.”

In any event, let gay cops be gay cops. If you can’t do that, it’s appropriate that she does return her Pride award.

Christine Craft

Sacramento / via email

Defacers, not developers

It is time to stop calling the most powerful group in our local politics by the euphemistic term developers. They should be called by the term coined by Frank Lloyd Wright—defacers.

It is developers and their minions who are responsible for defacing our communities and environment. The greatest triumph of “developer speak” are the words “developer,” “rebirth,” “revitalization” and “renaissance.” They are all code for a process that destroys residential neighborhoods, displaces low income residents and immigrants, and despoils the environment.

We should remember that when we read a story about “developers,” what we are really reading is an article about a defacer.

Gary Fitzgerald

Carmichael / via email

Corrections

Re: “Sutter Health’s big tax break” by Foon Rhee (Editor’s note, June 6):

The column incorrectly stated that the U.S. Justice Department joined an antitrust lawsuit filed by Attorney General Xavier Becerra against Sutter Health. The department was involved in a separate legal action. SN&R regrets the error.

Re: “Camera ready” by Jim Carnes (Stage, June 6):

The name of David Taylor-Gomes, musical director at Granite Bay High School, was misspelled. SN&R regrets the error.