Joe Cunningham’s calls for gun reform could help protect South Carolina students

Gun violence

As a teacher, it is challenging to take attendance while knowing that my students might be missing due to gun violence. More so, knowing the roster itself might have to serve as a sort of necrology should a shooting occur.

So, when Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former South Carolina congressman Joe Cunningham calls for gun reform that could protect my students, or parishioners (see “Joe Cunningham calls for gun reform in SC 6 years after Charleston church shooting”), I pay attention. Cunningham wants us to close the Charleston Loophole, implement universal background checks, and fund a statewide violence prevention plan.

While some may be concerned these measures limit the freedom to own guns, I shove aside any regard for these supposed freedoms when I remember my former student who was shot in the stomach for his sneakers.

If more state and local leaders would take Cunningham’s lead and address gun violence, maybe my former student and children like him would still be alive. But instead, their silence during roll call is a cacophony.

Ian Seth Levine, Cayce

DREAM Act

Lindsay Graham recently took a bold step for immigrants, and he deserves to be recognized for it. He helped to introduce the DREAM Act (S. 264), which would provide a pathway to citizenship for more than 3 million people — protecting them from deportation and building a stronger, kinder America for generations to come.

There are millions of undocumented immigrants — many of whom were brought here as children — who could still be deported, even though they’ve built lives here in our country, raising families here and supporting our nation.

More than 250,000 U.S. citizen children have at least one parent who is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient. These are families who have long-standing ties to their communities — who are integral to our country. Without a pathway to citizenship for their parents, these families could be broken apart, causing terrible disruption for their children.

Furthermore, nearly 3 in 4 undocumented immigrants in the workforce served as essential workers in the face of the pandemic — placing themselves and their families at risk while they help keep the country safe and running. Please join me in thanking Lindsay Graham for making a difference.

Heather Blackwell, West Columbia

Unemployment

As the day fast approaches when thousands of unemployed workers in South Carolina will be hung out to dry, I wonder if anyone has bothered to do the math.

Unemployment figures for May show around 110,000 registered with DEW, collecting both state and federal money. For simplicity’s sake let’s call it 100K. Let’s also forget about the state’s role and focus on the federal contribution: $300 per week of disposable income that comes not from the state coffers, but are actually infusions into them. Since $300 X 100,000 is 30 million dollars a week, carried forward to September 5th, that’s 240 Million dollars of outside money that would be spent in restaurants and grocery stores, paying up debts and generating tax revenue the whole state can use.

The Republicans claim that cutting people off from federal funding will stimulate the state’s economy by starving displaced workers into low paying jobs. Gov. Mcmaster clearly isn’t looking out for his people.

David Stuard, Lexington

Critical Race Theory

I would like to know why some people are so afraid of Critical Race Theory? It seems to me that they want their children to be proud of the fact that their ancestors were at Fort Sumter when the shots were fired to start the Civil War, but oblivious of the fact that their ancestors may have fought to keep schools segregated 10 years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. They want their children to know that their ancestors liberated Germany, but oblivious to the fact that while African American service members were fighting for the rights and freedoms of the people of South Vietnam, their family members here in Columbia were barred from certain restaurants, restricted to the “Colored” restrooms, the Carver Theater, Waverly Hospital and “colored” week at the state fair. Like it or not, it’s all American and South Carolina history.

Mike Evans, Columbia