Learn from past

First of all my thanks to the voters of Chicago who have sent a very strong message to the establishment of that city for their desire for real positive change, not the negative change and return to the past now being promoted by President Donald Trump.

Chicago, like the world in general, has many problems that have not been addressed. Problems that in fact do harm to people up to and including violent death, such as the ongoing wars and disregard for environmental factors that have killed millions over the decades. Now that Lori has been elected by a very wide margin this is only the beginning of the fight to change things for the better, and she will only succeed if the people of Chicago fight with her to overcome the bad policies of the past which have resulted in the inequality which has been at the root of so many problems in that city and the country for far too long.

The media, as I have written so often in the past, must start to do its job and put pressure on politicians, and those who control them to put the interest and well being of people above those of corporations. We in this country also must cleanup our own backyard setting an example for the rest of the world to follow.

Lastly it concerns me that the media concentrates on elevating stories like former vice president and potential presidential candidate Joe Biden, for example, being seen as not respecting women by actions such as giving them a hug. My question is if the women found this so offensive why didn’t they convey this at the time? As an African American in the past people have said things and done things which not only offended me but did a great deal of harm to me, and I did not hesitate to let them know at the time. While the media is obsessed with the Joe Biden story there are things being done of far greater harm to all of us, and it takes our attention away from those violations of human rights. The past cannot be changed. We can learn from it, but only if we are able to take lessons from it and put the new knowledge to work by making good decisions in the here and now.

George Whitaker

Bellevue