To the Editor:
Re “A Home Buying Prohibition Rattles Chinese Nationals in Florida” (news article, May 7):
The excellent reporting by Amy Qin and Patricia Mazzei shows why State Representative David Borrero, a Miami-area Republican, is wrong in claiming that national security interests take precedence over discrimination claims.
Time and again, we see how this false dichotomy is used to justify civil rights violations against Asian Americans. This was the case in major touch points throughout our history, from the Japanese American incarceration during World War II to the Justice Department’s now defunct China Initiative, which led to the increased faulty targeting, profiling and prosecution of Asian American and immigrant researchers, scientists, and professors — particularly those of Chinese descent.
The bigoted thinking espoused by Representative Borrero and others who support these initiatives should not go unchecked.
Joanna YangQing Derman
Washington
The writer is the director of the Anti-Profiling, Civil Rights and National Security program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC.
To the Editor:
Florida and other states’ laws prohibiting home purchases by many Chinese citizens and companies demonstrate Americans’ growing anti-China sentiment.
A nondiscriminatory federal law could achieve more effective curbs on China’s geopolitical goals: requiring “country of manufacture” to be prominently displayed on all internet product advertising.
Consumers’ purchases benefiting from such a law would be better informed, could alter the U.S.-China trade imbalance and not invite retaliation. Full disclosure of product sources could enable consumers, without government involvement, to show support for China, or disapproval.
William Dolan
Richmond Hill, Ga.
To the Editor:
Re “Let’s All Take a Deep Breath About China,” by Rory Truex (Opinion guest essay, May 6):
Laundries. Railroads. Now, tech companies. Fear of the “Chinese” threat to American livelihoods is deeply embedded in the American political imagination, as Dr. Truex notes.
This fear also infects policy choices. Until U.S. policymakers acknowledge that fear is a significant factor in shaping America’s China policy, then I am afraid we’ll continue to compromise American values by pursuing fear-based reactionary policies like preventing Chinese students from studying in STEM fields at American universities.
M. Robinson Hunt
London
The writer is an American Ph.D. candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Our Rights at Risk
To the Editor:
Re “Harris Warns of Restrictive Future Rulings by Supreme Court” (news article, May 10):
Vice President Kamala Harris articulated in her interview with The Times what deserves to be a central message of the Biden-Harris re-election campaign. She stressed the threat to reproductive freedom posed by certain members of the Supreme Court and suggested that the court could limit a broad range of civil rights and personal freedoms for many Americans.
Former President Donald J. Trump and congressional Republicans represent a similar threat. Examples of rights that are already in jeopardy include our right to vote, our right to marry whom we wish, our right to contraception, our right to objective study of our national history, our right to read what we wish and our right to own our gender identity.
The Biden-Harris campaign would do well to remind Americans of these threats as the presidential election approaches.
Charles W. Mitchell
Parkton, Md.
The Takeover at Columbia
To the Editor:
Re “3 Columbia Workers Recount Fearful Time Trapped in Hall” (front page, May 9):
Clearly, the administration at Columbia University was seriously remiss in its duty to protect the maintenance workers during the takeover of Hamilton Hall.
What I find at least as troubling was the protesters’ total disregard for the safety (physical and emotional) of the maintenance workers in the hall.
Demonstrating no regard for them, treating them with a lack of decency, called into question the values of the protesters. What does it say about them that their actions did not include treating the maintenance workers with dignity and respect?
Maida Cohen LaMell
Evanston, Ill.
Beethoven’s Legacy: Hope and Perseverance in the Face of Deafness
To the Editor:
Re “Clues to Beethoven’s Deafness Could Lurk in Locks of His Hair” (front page, May 8):
I am a bilateral cochlear implant recipient who lost and regained his hearing not once, but twice. The story of Ludwig van Beethoven’s confronting his growing deafness as he continued to compose and conduct has always provided special inspiration for me that transcends his music.
Whenever I listen to his compositions, I hear more than notes exquisitely written and performed. I hear the voice of a fellow human being who is overcoming trauma, adversity and fear through his art, whispering to me not to despair, but like him, to make the most of what I have while I can in my own way.
As scientists unravel the mystery of why Beethoven lost his hearing, the real story will always remain his perseverance, despite experiences that many of us also have: His inclination to isolate himself and not attend social functions so that he doesn’t have to admit his deafness. His deep depression and fleeting thoughts of ending it all before stopping himself and recognizing he still had a lot to offer. The endless visits to doctors who could not determine why he was losing his hearing, or how to stop it.
While it is unquestionably important to unlock the reasons for the many root causes of deafness, let scientists, doctors and others in the hearing community at large not forget the humanity behind the experience of losing one’s hearing.
For many of us, as we celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven’s true legacy will always be one of hope.
Greg Joseph
Sun City, Ariz.
PEN America Is Vital
To the Editor:
Re “Authors Must Stand Up for PEN America,” by Pamela Paul (column, May 1):
I, too, am a member of PEN and applaud Ms. Paul’s column. Canceling PEN’s annual World Voices Festival because of criticism by one group of writers was a capitulation to one perspective on the current war between Israel and Hamas.
PEN’s strength is its ability to persevere amid difficult periods of protest while not, in any manner, diminishing its presence as a leading venue for thought, literary expression and advocacy against unjust repression of writers worldwide. Our organization has a vital role, and compromise leaning to one perspective exclusive of others weakens it.
Allan Graubard
New York
The writer is a poet, playwright and critic.
Trump’s Empty Oath
To the Editor:
Re “Trump Vows Deportations and Hedges on Violence” (news article, May 1):
As Donald Trump envisions the presidency, we might as well dispense with the swearing-in ceremony if he’s elected. The oath of office means nothing to him. He has no intention of preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States.
Douglas G. Williams
Minneapolis