REJECT PRIVILEGE
I read with interest Scott Reeder's article regarding white privilege ("Leading a privileged life," March 31). I am sure at some points I, too, have been privileged in this way, but I don't want to perpetuate this social imbalance, either. I think one way we can end this treatment is by not accepting the preference.
I have never asked a merchant for a "freebie" as you describe in buying your shoes, but I can imagine my father or his generation doing that. It used to be common, but was based upon the very privilege that you seem to want to change now.
Again, if the young man you helped said you need to pay first and then pump the gas, then pay first. When the proprietor tells you it's not necessary, then you have a teaching opportunity to talk about the privilege that the young man was denied.
We can change the "good old boy" system, but only when the good old boys start acting like they are not privileged, which means rejecting the privilege. As long as you or I are willing to be privileged then it will not end until our generation is history – a sad history as far as equality is concerned.
John Brodt
Springfield
PASS NEW CHILD TAX CREDIT
Maria put every dollar she could make into her four daughters' education, as a single mom. She quit her job at the beginning of the pandemic, got sick with COVID-19 and now drives other struggling families to the local food bank every week.
Johnetta has applied everywhere she can find for rental assistance but cannot seem to find a break for herself and her young daughter with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. The strain of 24/7 caregiving alone, with no help, is high.
As a single mother of three children living in East St. Louis, I know the personal pain of struggling just to get by.
I work hard and take pride in my job. But when the pandemic hit, my hours were cut back and the money I use to support my family and pay my bills got much tighter. I wasn't sure what we were going to do. At our rock bottom, we learned an increase in the federal Earned Income Tax Credit was going to help turn our fortunes around.
There are thousands of working families like ours across Illinois who just need a break.
We are excited to learn we might get it through an expanded Earned Income Credit and a new Child Tax Credit. A few hundred dollars extra each year isn't going to solve all of our problems. But it provides some relief – a chance to pay the bills, to pay rent, buy clothes and care for our families.
We are the faces of the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit at the Capitol. We need the help, and we need it now. If we can get it, we will be so grateful and will put that money right back into helping others like us who are working hard to support their families. Please vote to give us a shot at a better life.
Lettie Hicks
East St. Louis
BAD POLICIES
Ask Mr. Albrecht why, if these "monopolies" can raise prices at will, have we enjoyed cut-throat price competition for years ("Letters," March 31). Gas was two bucks a gallon not so long ago. Major oil companies saw their stock prices tanking.
It's not a coincidence that this all changed when Joe Biden took office and he and the Democrats wasted $2 trillion on COVID relief that does no such thing, discouraged and even shut down domestic oil production, raised taxes and pounded the economy and businesses with global warming nonsense.
This was predicted by all Republican economists and some prominent Democrat economists, including Bill Clinton's treasury secretary.
It is unfortunate that we all have to suffer for idiotic Democratic policies.
Ted Harvatin
