Copyright 2000 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company
The Houston Chronicle
April 17, 2000, Monday 3 STAR EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 21
LENGTH:
1166 words
HEADLINE: Viewpoints
BYLINE: CARL KAO, RICHARD J. REINITZ, STEVEN D.
MELTZER, BETSY SCHWARTZ, BRENT CLANTON, ROBERT A. MAXEY, JOHN L. ASHMAN; Betsy
Schwartz, executive director, Mental Health Association
BODY:
Wishful China thoughts
Sam Faile's
April 10 Outlook article, "Congress should unfetter U.S. trade with China,"
proposed that Congress should grant China permanent, normal
trade relations. By doing so, Texas workers, farmers and cattlemen
would benefit from gaining access to China's vast agriculture market, which
would lower tariffs for beef and end tariffs on high-tech products. Investment
rules would be liberalized, full distribution rights would be given for American
companies in China, protections given against the dumping of Chinese goods here
and against market surges, and multilateral trade agreements would be enforced.
All of this is wishful thinking. We cannot get these things with our
free-world friends, such as Japan, France, Taiwan and South Korea.
As a
communist country, China has a very different ideology from ours. In China,
continuous infighting among governing elites can't decide whether or not to
allow capitalistic free trade. Congress has reviewed and granted China normal
trade relations every year in the past. With the review, we have been able to
require China to behave. Faile thinks we should make it permanent, without
review. The consequences of that would be obvious: We would lose an important
bargaining leverage with China.
Carl Kao, Houston
Cultural,
ethic awareness vital
I do not know whether to feel angry,
depressed or bewildered over the response to Diana Ruhtenberg's blatantly
anti-Semitic comment. My initial question concerns the type of people we have in
positions of authority. Are our leaders so bereft of sensitivity and cultural
awareness that they are unaware of obvious derogatory comments? That clearly
seems to be the case with Ruhtenberg, who, although in a position representing
Houston, claimed to be unaware of the slur.
Are we expected to
acknowledge that anti-Semitic comments are so much a part of the cultural
landscape that they have become acceptable? If such a comment had been directed
at the African-American or Hispanic community, would there be such acceptance by
Ruhtenberg's supervisors, the City Council or the mayor? I can hear the public
outcry (appropriate) had the comment been directed at either of these
communities, and I seriously doubt whether Ruhtenberg's lack of English
expertise, tears or sincere apology would have sufficed. I fully anticipate that
she would be asked to resign under such circumstances.
Certainly, we
live in a time and a world where that which was once accepted or tolerated is no
longer acceptable or tolerable.
We are a people of diverse cultures, and
even though the population at large may exhibit insensitive acts of ignorance,
we should not tolerate similar exhibits by public officials. We need educated
and experienced people who are culturally aware to serve our city. But evidently
our elected officials have a long way to go before they can comprehend and
embrace cultural and ethnic sensitivities.
Richard J. Reinitz, Houston
I was appalled by the lack of courage shown by Mayor Lee Brown
in the prejudicial, deprecating and anti-Semitic comments made by Diana
Ruhtenberg, the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority member. Her defense,
saying she "didn't know that this was an offensive phrase," of that heinous
remark ("Jew them down") was so transparent as to call into question her
intellect and, by inference, her capacity to handle her seemingly important
position.
We are fortunate to live in a wonderfully diverse community.
But this privilege carries with it the awesome responsibility of respecting in
word, deed and action all denizens. Ironically, two other highly respected
community leaders - the Reverend C.L. Jackson and City Councilman Jew Don Boney
- also failed to grasp the gravity of this ethnic epithet and thereby condoned
hatred, ignorance and prejudice. The mayor's failure to immediately dismiss
Ruhtenberg can only be seen as an act of cowardice. This is one time where
intolerance of all racial and ethnic slurs serves the tolerance so desperately
required in a multiracial community.
Steven D. Meltzer, Houston
Real life has complexity
Mike McDaniel did an
excellent job in the April 6 Houston section conveying the distortions and
misinformation about mental illness perpetrated in the premiere episode of ABC's
Wonderland.
Interviewing the staff at Harris County Psychiatric Center
allowed him to explore the stigmatizing effect of the show in its exaggeration
of the relationship between violence and mental illness. The situations
portrayed in Wonderland make for riveting entertainment while ignoring the
real-life stories of complexity, hope and healing in the lives of millions of
Americans with mental illness.
Just as one knows the silly tricks on
Ally McBeal don't win cases in real courtrooms and that big-city trauma centers
are probably less of a soap opera than E.R., so mental-health advocates hope
viewers watch Wonderland with their skepticism intact.
Betsy Schwartz,
executive director, Mental Health Association, Houston
Chase's
priorities elitist
Bravo, Shannon Buggs ("New check-cashing fee
not warranted," April 10 Business), for hitting the nail on the head in exposing
a disturbing trend in banking: Customers take a back seat to profits and
shareholders.
It is amazing that, even though Chase Bank's lobby traffic
is composed of 50 percent nonaccount holders, it chooses to run off new
customers by imposing fees.
Not the best way to build a business, but
when its the biggest bank in Houston, I guess it doesn't care. Shame on Chase's
elitist attitude. Vote with your feet, I say. Chase can't collect the fee if you
don't walk in the door.
Brent Clanton, Houston
Officials
'do no wrong'
In light of Harris County officials who can do no
wrong, it should be plain to taxpayers that the time has come to change from the
commissioner form of government to a 16-person council, elected by district.
There is too much money to be controlled by five people. We now have a
commissioner who feels that the full-time job he was elected to do means he can
freelance as he pleases through a diverse company. It's time to change our
county government.
With 16 members, it would not be quite so easy to
swing votes with one or two people.
Robert A. Maxey, Spring
Purple cows, yellow dogs
Who says politics can't
be funny? Take the case of Peter Wareing and John Culbertson, local Republicans
who competed for a chance to run for Congress.
A "yellow dog" Democrat
is one who has never voted for a Republican and never will, preferring to vote
for a yellow dog than for a Republican. A "yellow dog" Democrat is a terrible
thing to be - ask any Republican.
Wareing and Culbertson each pointed
fingers at each other because they each voted at least once for a Democrat. They
want to be known as "purple cow" Republicans: those who always vote for members
of their own party and always will. Apparently that's a wonderful thing to be.
John L. Ashman, Houston
LOAD-DATE: April 18, 2000
