To the editor: Author Mark Schneider quotes a member of the Florida Board of Training, Layla Collins, as saying the state has a duty to verify future generations be taught “how one can assume, not what to assume” (“New Florida instructing requirements revive Crimson Scare of Hollywood’s previous,” Nov. 14). That is in reference to the many years of criticism of U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, utilizing “McCarthyism” as an insult and “slander in opposition to anti-communists.”
I don’t see slander in opposition to anti-communists within the criticism of McCarthy. I see him (and different aggressive anti-communists) as “[having] no sense of decency” within the phrases of Joseph N. Walsh, counsel for the Military in 1954.
Actually, communism failed for a lot of causes, however the board assumes that “how one can assume” means solely “what to assume” with this coverage. Apparently, you can’t train how to consider the sorts of overreach of each excessive communism and anti-communist zealots. It’s not OK to consider cruelty to victims of anti-communism, however it’s OK to have destroyed careers due to how they thought? It is just allowed to “assume” and train that anti-communist insurance policies are virtuous. The rest hurts the emotions of those that should be advised what to assume.
By all means, let’s not train what to assume.
James Severtson, Reseda
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To the editor: I had forgotten that Dalton Trumbo, who was referred to as earlier than the U.S. Home Un-American Actions Committee, wrote the screenplay for “Roman Vacation.”
Regardless of the place you stand on the political spectrum, for those who’re trying to rejoice the quintessentially American values of kindness, good humor, integrity, self-sacrifice and belief, watch “Roman Vacation.”
Mary Bomba, Los Angeles
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To the editor: With the mayoral wins for Katie Wilson in Seattle and Zohran Mamdani in New York Metropolis, it does appear to be the stigma of being labeled a “socialist” might lastly be sporting skinny.
The best downside we now have in America is the focus of wealth in a couple of on the prime. This wealth inequality “trickles down” to have an effect on homelessness, unaffordability, racial injustice, academic inequity, healthcare inequities, gaps in vitamin, legal injustice and a complete host of different societal issues.
Disgrace on the Florida Board of Training for spinning McCarthyism into one thing constructive and making an attempt, as soon as once more, to stigmatize the phrases “socialist” and “communist.”
Andrew Tilles, Studio Metropolis
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To the editor: Florida’s use of public faculty curricula as propaganda to launder the tragic legacy of McCarthyism might provide a silver lining within the requirement to incorporate instruction on communist figures like Fidel Castro.
Castro’s overly lengthy, self-indulgent speeches, persecution of his enemies, reliance on cronies and relations in authorities and his use of navy power in opposition to his personal individuals might ring alarm bells that even major faculty kids can hear.
Daniel Stone, Los Angeles
