Letters for May 29: State Sen. Lionell Spruill should ‘bow out’ of the State Senate District 18 race

Step aside

To say that the battle for the Virginia Senate in District 18 has turned into a brouhaha is a complete understatement. State Sen. Louise Lucas and state Sen. Lionell Spruill are two people who have long-standing histories in Richmond and drawing the redistricting lines to put them head to head was a stroke of genius from the old white men with the power. (I said what I said.) We are in the middle of a battle of wills — as it should be. The intention should always be to present each person's record and let the voters decide based on facts. Spruill, however, is fighting his fight with a brass knuckle in his glove. He's lying or completely misconstruing Lucas’ record in order to make himself look like something that he's not. Both were in lockstep with former Gov. Ralph Northam's agenda. For Spruill to take a potshot at Lucas on that is disingenuous and desperate.

Who will keep the commonwealth safe from racist, sexist dog whistles from our current executive leadership? Protect women's rights? Protect human rights? Protect education and health care? We have to select the person who can rally the troops and get these things done, and Spruill is not the answer. Rather than misconstruing things in order to make Lucas seem like something she's not, he needs to take off his gloves, bow out and find another way to contribute to the progress of the commonwealth. Sir, sit this one out and be great in another way.

Nikia Miller, Hampton

Mass shootings

Re "Government alone can't stop mass shootings" (May 24): I agree with everything Cynthia M. Allen wrote. You can only include so much in the cause and effect paragraph, but I think she left something out that is a big influence on young people in addition to everything else she included.

Hollywood and the television networks are a big influence on youth. Even during shows as benign as "The Price is Right," commercial after commercial is for prime-time programs featuring the main characters blazing away with guns, running from explosions or blowing something up. When they are not doing those things, they are physically beating up one or more opponents. Hollywood continues to crank out the same type of trash. We live in a "monkey see, monkey do" society. Is there any wonder that young people see violence as a way to confront conflict or disagreement?

In our area of Virginia violent gangs are a real problem. Even the local politicians and police authorities dodge the issue to the point that even one police official finally referred to them as "violent social groups" — duh. Nationally speaking, roughly 46% of gang members are Hispanic/Latino and 35% are African American/Black, which make it a tougher social issue to address by politicians who dance around racial issues. There are a lot of moving parts to this problem, and government is not going to solve it with more legislation. Our society has lost its moral compass.

Jim Fronkier, Hampton

Please share

Re "With pride flags, ODU students protest Gov. Youngkin's speech during commencement" (May 6): I encourage all Old Dominion University graduates who turned their backs on Gov. Glenn Youngkin at graduation ceremony to please include a description of their participation in this gesture on their resumes. I believe any prospective employer would like to know how the applicant could treat coworkers, clients and customers who do not share the same beliefs or values the applicant does. As a retiree from the business world, this would have been insightful information for me.

Connie Moore, Suffolk

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