Letters to the editor 4/3/25

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SAME TREATMENT

I read with interest the Guestwork article written by attorney John Banks-Brooks (“Reading while Black,” March 20). I immediately understood Mr. Banks-Brooks’ position because as a lifetime resident of Springfield and local photographer, I have wandered into the Amtrak station on many occasions.

I was met, strangely enough, with the very same treatment as Mr. Banks-Brooks. However, I am as white as they come, so I will have to conclude that race is not an issue here. As I am sure Mr. Banks-Brooks knows, the Amtrak station is not public property. I have been allowed to take a few snapshots, but then understandably asked to leave, as I was not a traveler nor waiting for a traveler. The Amtrak station is and has always been exclusively for the use of Amtrak customers and those accompanying those customers.

If Mr. Banks-Brooks had looked around, I’m quite certain he would not have seen any readers, knitters, checker players or other idlers in the station. It is simply not allowed, regardless of race. I have no desire to question Mr. Banks-Brooks’ motives or actions, but being aware of the loitering and trespassing policies of local establishments seems basic to residency. I can list several more businesses in the area that have similar policies, some going so far as to try prohibiting photographs (illegal) and claiming city sidewalks as their own property.

I would encourage Mr. Banks-Brooks to get a camera and see if he fares any better. I don’t see it as a racial issue, but I do see some corporate overreach in many instances and the exercise of rights and policies by corporations which simply do not exist.

John Brodt
Springfield

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HAVE DIALOGUE

I first want to thank Mr. Banks-Brooks and Illinois Times for this article. These situations are common, and there is value in bringing them into a public forum for comment.

In this situation there are no winners or losers. The best dialogues involve mutual respect, seeing both sides and recognizing where each person is coming from. Most rules have exceptions. What guides us in deciding these exceptions? What assumptions are we making about the other person?

There are opportunities in difficult situations to see a better way. We humans are, without exception, works in progress. Each of us makes a difference. We live. We learn. We forgive. We do better.

Michael Leonard
Springfield

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MISGUIDED

The Springfield Amtrak tickets agents are the greatest people in the world. To a person, they are committed to the Amtrak company mission to provide superior service to the traveling public. In achieving that goal daily, each of them extends the warmest direction and assistance to all, without reservation.

The author seems to be confused between “public” facilities and “traveling public” facilities, as well as an Amtrak policy regarding that distinction. To clear up his misconceptions, I suggest he buy a senior discount ticket to the St. Louis, Missouri, Gateway Station. Then leave the premises, return at his convenience – book in hand – and take a seat without a currently dated ticket. There will be no need to alarm any ticket agent, because in no time, one of the 24-hour, on-duty, fully armed security guards will approach and asked to see his pass. Failing to produce this will result in summary eviction from the premises. Many of the security personnel are African American, so the RWB explanation probably won’t fly.

Their vigilance derives from the constant attempts by misguided people, such as this author, who attempt to invade the premises for their own ends, as well as Amtrak’s commitment to providing a secure, relaxing waiting area for valid passengers.

The Springfield ticket agent treated the writer very gently, out of order though he was, as she always has to everyone at her window.

Ronald E. Howell
Springfield

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NOT AN ACTIVIST

I suggest that a small-town Nebraska boy who focused on corporate law to earn his juris doctorate, happily began his career by serving a Republican congressman in fulfilling his House appropriations duties then was a legislative staffer to a U.S. senator of the same party before becoming a Securities and Exchange Commission attorney with visions of Wall Street dancing in his head is hardly the prescription for pursuing a role as a leftist activist.

If I were an activist, it strikes me that I would have not only brought with me an oversize sign signifying my complaint but additionally, I would have wanted to have been arrested during a busy weekday for the immediate attention.

Activism just isn’t my thing. Neither is threatening individuals who earn their living working for commercial, business, government or nonprofit entities. What I do find beyond the pale are those who use their authority to both denigrate and dismiss those who they cavalierly deem of lesser value. My indignation of that type of behavior isn’t a matter of left or right, but simply the way my Bible-quoting grandma raised me. Consequently, I have no hesitation in speaking against such callous treatment of my fellow humans, no matter what their views. I ask the same treatment for myself.

However, if you believe that contacting Amtrak headquarters and Illinois Times is a matter of leftist activism, then I’m guilty as charged.

John Banks-Brooks
Springfield

This article appears in Young offenders in Illinois still serving life sentences.