If a city like Charlotte can have a stay at home order, why can’t a state like SC?
On Charlotte
As a Lancaster County resident who teaches for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, I am gravely concerned about the lack of a statewide shelter in place order in South Carolina.
The majority of people who live in Lancaster and York counties work in Charlotte, which just declared a stay at home order mainly because it is the most populous city in North Carolina — and because the citizens there were simply not adhering to federal, state or local recommendations.
The reality is that community spread from the Greater Charlotte area to Lancaster and York counties puts thousands of South Carolinians at risk!
I recently contacted Gov. Henry McMaster’s office to voice my concern; I received an email response stating that a shelter in place is “a drastic action that other states with larger populations centers have taken.”
But the statistics show that shelter in place stops the spread of disease — and now that a large population area bordering South Carolina has taken such action, it’s time for McMaster to use his executive power to do the same here.
Lori Carter, Indian Land
On Leonard Pitts
In a recent column Leonard Pitts referred to the Republican Party as “a hate group” with President Donald Trump as “its grand wizard.”
In the same column Pitts wrote that Americans are once again having to deal “with Republican bigotry” and that the “GOP draws lines of difference and discrimination in accordance with its core constituency; those who are older, angry and white.”
Why does The State continue to highlight Pitts, a columnist who uses extremely broad generalizations to make his points? Pitts resorts to name-calling and divisive language in every piece he writes, and that is the sign of someone with a weak argument.
Sarah Eades, Lexington
Editor’s note: We publish extremely diverse views on the Opinion page — from liberals like Pitts to conservatives like Marc Thiessen, Jonah Goldberg and Jay Ambrose — to give readers a broad range of thought-provoking perspectives.
On a shutdown
It is beyond comprehension that our doctors, nurses and other hospital staffers are literally dying while begging President Donald Trump to help them by shutting down the country during the coronavirus pandemic.
These people are risking their lives to save us; shouldn’t we listen to them?
I have not heard a single speech by Trump or any other politician that encourages us to unite as Americans, and I am weary of reading articles and tweets that pit us against each other.
Why can’t the government and the private sector come together to just freeze everything for two weeks? We should shut everything down under the condition that everyone would be protected from being terminated or laid off — or from having their pay withheld.
Victoria Catoe, Lexington
On unity
Why are Americans arguing with Americans while Americans are dying on American soil because of COVID-19? ? There is enough bipartisan blame to go around, but CNN is pummeling us 24/7 with anecdotal negative commentary that is just creating panic.
Yes, we want the daily updates from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. But we also need the emotional encouragement we can draw from seeing examples of the resiliency of the American people.
If America’s sports world can cancel all of its events, why can’t our politicians cancel their rallies and dueling narratives — and work together to mobilize our country behind defeating this dangerous epidemic?
Carroll Player, Florence
This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 9:15 AM.