BOOK BANS
Returning to Nazi roots
As a writer, I especially appreciated Lois Danks’ article on the concept of banning books rearing its ugly head again [“Book bans sweep through US school boards,” Vol. 43, No. 3].
While Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General Edward Meese tried to ban pornography and so-called “girlie” magazines in the 1980s, I believe this current incarnation of people who would ban books represents an even more dangerous threat.
They’ve returned to the roots of Nazi Germany: the censorship of ideas. Groups backed by the likes of the Koch brothers want to disavow the United States’ racist past and to deny the existence of groups like the LGBTQ+ community: witness Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Hooray for teachers and librarians who stand up for people’s right to think independently. Also, a shout out to the Freedom Socialist for reporting on these issues.
Raymond V. Murphy, Seattle, Washington
JANUARY 6 HEARINGS
Democratic rights
This is in response to the article “January 6 hearings: a socialist take on the failed fascist-led coup” [Vol. 43, No. 4], which was excellent as far as it goes.
However, there is a key issue that is being left out of the current discussion about the attack on democratic rights. That is that of enhancement of the powers of financial institutions with quasi-sovereign status which started under the Reagan Administration and which has continued under all administrations of both parties since.
This is a reflection of the larger issue of central banks (in the USA, the Federal Reserve) being a direct link between the economic upper class and the state.
The granting of financial institutions aspects of sovereign immunity from civil suit through “Arbitration Law,” which is a branch of Admiralty and thus of Martial Law, which has been imposed on the court system starting with Supreme Court rulings in 1983, is an express repudiation of equality under the law. It attacks at least the Seventh and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and the confidentiality agreements typically imposed on them attack the First Amendment.
Far from the rise of the proto-fascistic movement that Trump represents being an anomalous breach of “democracy,” his rise represents the breaking out into the open of an attack on liberal democratic rights which has been going on for forty years.
Thorn C. Roberts, Elizabeth, West Virginia
AFTERSHOCK
Black mothers’ put at risk
Thank you for Miriam Padilla’s movie review of Aftershock, on Hulu [“Aftershock: the repercussions of Black maternal mortality,” Vol. 43, No. 5]. The article spurred me to watch this documentary about the profound U.S. racism that permeates the medical profession.
Shocking is too mild a word for it. Black mothers die at the rate of three to four times the rate of white mothers because of medical abuse and negligence.
Black moms-to-be experience caesarean sections, which are riskier than vaginal birth, more often than white moms-to-be. The U.S. has the highest rate of maternal mortality of all the industrialized countries.
The heartbroken families and partners of women depicted organized together for better care. They also championed doulas, midwives and birthing centers, which focus on the needs of the woman.
Adrienne Weller, Seattle, Washington
BEHIND BARS
Articles relevant
I find the Freedom Socialist newspaper to be on point in its coverage of issues that relate to people like myself who are incarcerated.
Lee D., Malone, New York
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