A22 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, JULY 28 , 2020
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR[email protected]LOCAL OPINIONSJoin the debate at washingtonpost.com/local-opinionsThe unwillingness of Americans to accept individ-
ual responsibility for the collective public health and
safety during the pandemic is omnipresent on our
roads and highways, where speed limits and rules of
the road are being ignored with impunity. It is
occurring across D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Even
those willing to don a mask when required are driving
recklessly fast and maneuvering around other driv-
ers. Their driving is fueled by a dangerous formula:
less traffic, low gasoline prices and pent-up emotions
unleashed by pressing the gas pedal.
Eighty is the new 55 — mph, that is.
Police officers and state troopers have been pulled
into the pandemic vortex. Their ranks have been
thinned by the virus, and routine traffic and speeding
stops were suspended to slow the spread of the virus,all while officers have been trying to respond to new
demands on the streets, in communities and homes.
The D.C. police department produced a public
service announcement asking drivers to obey the
speed limits on the open roads. Government leaders
and police and highway patrols sorely need to add
their voices and more. They need to erect more speed
cameras and create stiffer penalties, including sus-
pension or loss of a driver’s license. Meanwhile, car
and truck manufacturers, as well as oil companies,
need to take a page from the Budweiser playbook
against drunken driving: Create an advertising cam-
paign telling their customers to slow down.
Drivers need to take the first step. Show your
respect for first responders by obeying the law.
Steve Katz, PotomacThe pandemic isn’t a license to drive like a maniac
T
HOMAS JEFFERSON High School for Sci-
ence and Technology has offered admission
to the class of 2024 to 486 students. Want to
know how many of those students are black?
Fairfax County officials won’t say, but the number is
so small — fewer than 10 — that officials claim its
disclosure could lead to potentially personally iden-
tifiable information about individual students. That
tells you all you need to know about the system’s
abject failure to expand educational opportunities
to students of color.
The pitiable numbers — African American stu-
dents make up about 10 percent of Fairfax’s public
school system — are a stark reminder that the racial
inequities that have been the subject of unprece-
dented national protest are not confined to the
criminal justice system. Education is supposed to be
a great equalizer, which m akes its failings all the
more pernicious.
The racial and social composition of Thomas
Jefferson has never, since its opening in 1985, come
close to reflecting the racial and economic composi-
tion of the Northern Virginia communities fromwhich it draws students. Each year, when stories are
written about the scant numbers of black and Latino
students and those from poor and low-income
households, there is hand-wringing by school offi-
cials. But promises to do better and tweaks to the
admission policies invariably fall short.
Admission to the school, which has been ranked
the top high school in the country, is based on an
entrance exam, essays and teacher recommenda-
tions that are designed to reveal problem-solving
skills and gauge a passion for STEM. Defenders of
the status quo argue that admission is based purely
on merit and that any efforts to make it more
accessible would result in a lowering of standards
and quality. “I just can’t see taking a school that...
[has been] called... the top high school in America
and changing it because you can’t get kids in from
Route 1,” state Sen. Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax)
said during a hearing in 2018 on a bill by Sen. Scott
A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) that would have forced
changes in the administration process. The measure
was killed in committee.
Merit, though, in many respects comes down towhich parents have the know-how and the resources
to put their children — often at a very early age — on
the competitive track to get into Thomas Jefferson.
They buy homes in the middle school districts that
have served as pipelines to Thomas Jefferson, enroll
their children in enrichment programs and pay the
money, often thousands of dollars, for exam prepara-
tion courses. That Fairfax hasn’t figured out how to
identify and prepare black and brown children for
TJ is to its discredit.
Thomas Jefferson is not alone in its imbalance;
selective high schools in other parts of the country
face similar challenges of segregation. If there is one
lesson to be learned from the protests sparked by the
death of George Floyd, it’s that it is time to stop
glossing over the systemic issues that have disadvan-
taged black people. So it is encouraging that
Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has created a work group to
study issues of equity and diversity at Thomas
Jefferson and the state’s other governor’s schools.
The group held its first meeting last week and aims
to come up with recommendations in time for the
start the General Assembly in January.Racial inequities are going strong at a Va. school
It is time to stop glossing over the systemic issues that have disadvantaged black students.
N
OT SO long ago, asylum seekers turned to the
United States, seeking refuge from repressive
states. Now the United States is one of those
repressive states.
That’s the gist of a Canadian federal court ruling,
which would scrap a 16-year-old bilateral treaty called
the Safe Third Country Agreement, under which Cana-
da and the United States each recognize the other as a
safe place to seek refuge. Justice Ann Marie McDonald
ruled that Canada’s practice of turning back third-
country refugees who try to cross at official points of
entry along the U.S.-Canada frontier — on the theory
that they have already reached a safe harbor in the
United States — no longer makes sense given the
atrocious treatment to which they are subjected south
of the border. Canada, she wrote, can no longer turn a
blind eye to the reality that the United States denies
decent and dignified treatment to asylum seekers.
Justice McDonald based her ruling partly on testi-
mony from asylum seekers who described harrowing
conditions of confinement in U.S. detention, to which
they are automatically taken when turned back by
Canada. One of them, a refugee from Ethiopia named
Nedira Jemal Mustefa, recounted what she called a
“terrifying, isolating and psychologically traumatic”
experience at a “freezing” facility where she was held in
upstate New York. Other testimony in the Canadian
court provided evidence that detainees in U.S. facilities
were denied access to counsel, phone calls and transla-
tors, and some were subjected to solitary confinement.
The judge found that the “accounts of the detainees
demonstrate both physical and psychological suffer-
ing because of detention, and a real risk that they will
not be able to assert asylum claims” in the United
States.
None of this is surprising to advocates and others
who have monitored the travails of asylum seekers,
especially since President Trump took office. In thepast two years, his anti-immigration policies have
prompted more than 50,000 asylum seekers to cross
into Canada outside official ports of entry, thereby
skirting the treaty’s automatic-return provision —
until the pandemic forced the border’s closing this
spring. After arriving in Canada and undergoing secu-
rity and medical screening, they have been allowed to
work and receive basic benefits such as medical care as
they await adjudication of their asylum claims.
Canada is among the United States’s closest allies;
gratuitous America-bashing is not the norm there.
That a Canadian judge would give a failing grade to thiscountry’s commitment to human rights where they
concern refugees is a damning rebuke.
Before her ruling takes effect, the judge gave the
Canadian government six months to appeal, should it
choose to do so. Until now, the treaty’s supporters have
justified it on the grounds that it bars “asylum shop-
ping” by refugees. The question facing the administra-
tion of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is whether its
neighbor to the south still adheres to what Western
democracies regard as the basic standards of dignity
and decency on which the original treaty was based.
The evidence suggests it does not.A damning rebuke
of America’s
asylum system
A Canadian judge takes
t he United States to task.ABCDE
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The Washington Post
1301 K St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 (202) 334-6000Regarding Nell Irvin Painter’s July 23 Thursday
Opinion essay, “Capitalize ‘White,’ too”:
I appreciate the amusing debate of whether to
capitalize the “b” in describing a person as “black”
(or “Black”). And the fun somersault of deciding to
capitalize the “w” to describe a person as “white” (or
“White”).
With respect, Ms. Painter missed the boat. De-
scribing an individual as “black” (or “Black”) com-
municates something useful. Whether from Africa
or Jamaica, that person has almost certainly faced
the obscenity of racism.
Describing a person as “white” (or “White”) does
not. I am Jewish. To call me “white” is to be willfully
blind to the rank and violent anti-Semitism that
Jews face in our increasingly racially hostile world.
Let’s please avoid the tribalistic desire to put
people into camps. Let’s please instead focus on
what matters: defeating the wickedness of prejudice.
No matter the color.
Yvette “Yve” Golan, WashingtonI can’t help but wonder at the point of using
capital “W” when describing white people.
Referring to “twoness” (quoting W.E.B. Du Bois),
Nell Irvin Painter’s essay described the indignity of
seeing yourself as a unique individual but “knowing
that other people see you as a black person.” Yet, she
advocated the same treatment of white people.
What do we accomplish by emphasizing skin
color as any person’s primary identifier? Isn’t that
how we ended up with slavery, lynchings, segrega-
tion and unequal opportunities for people of color?
Isn’t that what racism is: seeing and treating people
as inferior or inhuman because of the color of their
skin?
Instead of “racializing” white people, let’s stop
racializing everyone. None of us should be op-
pressed, judged, marginalized or maligned because
of our skin color.
Rather than advocating that white people learn to
live with “twoness,” let’s focus on ending “twoness”
for everyone.
Gwen Stokols, AlexandriaLet’s stop ‘racializing’
Regarding E.D. Mondainé’s July 24 op-ed, “White
spectacle in Portland is distracting from black lives”:
Yes. Take Black Lives Matter from the streets to
the power centers, and everywhere in between.
But remember, Portland, Ore., is not the first time
that civil rights work, by black leaders and white
allies, has been eclipsed by street theater.
Last time, the bandoleers and “Burn Baby Burn”
crowd sidelined, segregated and dead-ended the
movement — opening the door to Louis Farrakhan,
who still poisons the heart springs of common
cause.
Common cause. It’s too hard won to sacrifice to
spectacle. Let’s not salt the earth. Harvest time’s in
sight.
Annlinn Kruger, Bar Harbor, MaineKeep focused on what matters
President Trump claims he canceled the Jackson-
ville, Fla., Republican National Convention to “pro-
tect the American people” [“Trump cancels RNC’s
big event,” front page, July 24]. In reality, that
decision was forced on him by local Jacksonville
officials and political reality.
Jacksonville City Council President Tommy
Hazouri opposed local legislation to clear the way for
the convention. The sheriff said the city was “past
the point of no return” in its ability to keep everyone
safe. As a result, support among other local officials
began to evaporate.
Add to the equation the fact that former vice
president Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic
nominee for president, has a 13-percentage-point
lead over Mr. Trump in Florida, and the answer
becomes clear: Mr. Trump saw political defeat
looming and made the decision before Jacksonville
closed the door.
Mr. Trump’s actions have made it clear that the
health and welfare of Americans are not high on his
priority list. His only priority is himself.
Ellen Coren, Chevy ChaseMr. Trump’s grudging decision
The July 23 Post served up a massive list of scary
troubles. It is legitimate to fear that, with President
Trump’s bizarre behavior, he might not accept an
election loss, as reported in the front-page article
“Trump stirs fear he won’t accept an election loss.” It
is no wonder he seems impressed with Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s’ government.
The National Digest item “Hearing planned on
directive on census” explained that an emergency
hearing will be held to stop Mr. Trump from blocking
undocumented immigrants from the census count.
There are 1.6 million undocumented immigrants in
Texas alone. Apparently they are indeed invisible
and Trump does not recognize their roles and needs
in the nation, even in a pandemic.
In his Thursday Opinion column, “The First
Amendment in Trump’s America,” Dana Milbank
quoted acting homeland security secretary Chad
Wolf as saying, “agents go out to proactively arrest
individuals.” Mr. Milbank added, in case you missed
it, “That’s so much easier than waiting for them to do
something illegal before you lock them up.”
And in his Thursday Opinion column, “The costs
of the president’s corruption,” E.J. Dionne Jr. point-
ed out that we’ve developed herd immunity to the
scandals.
Capping it off, we learn in the news article
“Novavax leaders in line for windfalls” that the four
top executives in Novavax will receive more than
$100 million for their efforts in a $1.6 billion vaccine
contract. Ever wonder why medicine costs so much?
This is real trouble, and it is time for everyone to
speak up and vote.
Jerry Earll, WashingtonReal trouble in the U.S.
For one brief, emotional moment, I looked at the
main photograph with the July 24 front-page article
“Baseball’s return is nothing short of a miracle” and
had a sense of pure joy. Seeing our nation’s leading
infectious-disease expert, Anthony S. Fauci, front
and center at Nationals Park, throwing out the first
pitch of a long-delayed season, was just what we all
needed.
Judy Protas, RockvilleDr. Fauci pitches in
A
NY DAY now, the United States will cross
another grim threshold of death from the
coronavirus: 150,000 people lost. By con-
trast, South Korea has lost 299 people, Ger-
many 9,125. Per million population, the United States
has lost 423.6, Germany 110 and South Korea 5.8.
Behind these statistics lies the epic failure of Presi-
dent Trump and his administration to mount a
national response in the face of catastrophe.
The experience of other nations in fighting out-
breaks — even raging outbreaks — should make
Americans realize: It doesn’t have to be this way. The
United States could tamp down the wildfires of virus
in two months. The methods are not a secret, and they
are not rocket science. Two prominent public health
experts have suggested that with a concerted effort,
the United States could reach near normal by Oct. 1.
Andy Slavitt, a former health care official in the
Obama administration, and Peter Hotez, a professor
and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine
at Baylor College of Medicine, have separately out-lined how the United States might reach a point
where schools and businesses can reopen.
“Let’s say we threw the kitchen sink at COVID-19 in
the U.S. Let’s say we started now with the goal of being
open for business in October — meaning schools, in
person voting, sports, everything. If we did every-
thing. What would happen?” Mr. Slavitt wrote on
Twitter. Dr. Hotez wondered whether “potentially we
could even launch a college football season or the
NFL?”
What would it take? Both experts recommend a
nationwide, concerted federal effort to break virus
transmission, going beyond the “flatten the curve”
attempts of the spring. This would be hard to do,
demanding sacrifice and economic pain, but paying
off in a more sustained recovery later on. Dr. Hotez
recommends, through federal leadership, setting a
national target for containment, such as one new case
per million residents a day, although something less
strict might also work. To get there, Mr. Slavitt
suggests universal mask-wearing; keeping bars, res-taurants, churches and transit closed; prohibiting
interstate travel and stopping inbound arrivals from
abroad. He also suggests setting up hotels for those
with symptoms to isolate, free, and implementing a
major national lockdown, more severe than in March
and April with many more workers staying home.
“After a few weeks, what would happen is what
happened in other countries,” he wrote, noting that the
virus spread would plummet. “Then what? You know
how we don’t have enough tests? We would have plenty.
Plenty to test everyone going into work, to school, to
church, to an event. And if there’s a stray case or a
dozen, we would find it in a day.” Dr. Hotez notes that
with containment, “contact tracing actually becomes
feasible.” The reopening would have to be done careful-
ly, with continued precautions and surveillance.
It would be a difficult summer. But the payoff could
be normalcy in the autumn. Sure, there would be
resistance. To bring off such an effort would require
persuasive leadership — the kind that has been
lacking for so many months.H ow to kick the virus by October
With short-term sacrifice, it’s possible.
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