A better protest
I fully understand a person’s right to protest, but I don’t understand the correlation between kneeling for the national anthem and racial injustice. I think NFL players would make more impact going out into their communities and helping at-risk kids and teens or donating part of their $5 billion combined salary.
I choose to stand for the national anthem and will not belittle or judge you if you choose to kneel. I do it out of respect for those who served our country and because it is a song of unity for this great nation of ours. And when I’m in Canada for a sporting event, I will stand for its anthem out of respect as a visitor.
I watch sports to be entertained and follow politics when I need a good laugh. Education is the greatest form of protest.
Doug Vinke
Kansas City
A better nation
Should we be building walls or bridges to truly make America great again?
Jim Waltz
Kansas City
A better airport
I recently finished a great weekend in the Kansas City area. There is no one nicer than people from Missouri and Kansas. But it’s time for a new airport.
David Wilcox
Bradenton, Fla.
How KC works
The Star asked, “Did KC lose its mojo in the long, messy KCI fight?” (Sept. 24, 18A) The answer is no.
Kansas City’s mojo is not about big projects. Our mojo is the transformational ecosystem of organic, creative and authentic entrepreneurism that gave rise to the Crossroads and permeated the metro — North Kansas City to Lawrence to eastern Jackson County.
It is jazz, animal health, global design, urban fish farming, winning sports teams and the remarkable people of our region. Mojo is the progeny of individuals, arts organizations, schools and colleges, community groups and businesses excelling beyond our boundaries.
A better question: How do we nurture the ecosystem and transform Kansas City into a global city? The terminal, hotel and streetcar became important because of our mojo ecosystem. It would survive without these three projects, and it would be healthier with them. Each is a good idea intended to make the region better.
I may believe that I have a better idea for each (our team did not win the KCI contract), but that does not matter. It is time for trust and to vote “yes” and give our mojo a global gateway and to nurture more mojo across the region — both needed and deserved by our people.
Steve McDowell
BNIM architects
Kansas City
Quiet, audiences
Kansas City possesses a world class symphony and performing arts venue. We have a symphony director who can stand with the best. The Kansas City Symphony assembles a program each year that would make any city proud.
Unfortunately, the symphony audience does not measure up to these high standards.
It is unfortunate that the audiences in Kansas City so often violate symphony etiquette by applauding between the movements of compositions. It is especially embarrassing when orchestras come from Chicago, Los Angeles, other large markets or even overseas.
It is the responsibility of the Kansas City Symphony and the Harriman-Jewell Series to educate our people about proper symphony etiquette. Maybe a carefully worded flier inserted into the program would be sufficient.
Lee Kirchhoff
Blue Springs
Value journalism
Thank you for publishing Jeneé Osterheldt’s column, “Trump’s NFL tirade shows the nation who he really is: A white supremacist.”
I have to admit that when I checked the byline, I expected The Star had picked up the column from another source. I was pleased to learn that a Star staff writer penned the column and, at least as important, the editors approved it — at the risk, no doubt, of alienating at least 50 percent of their readership.
Newspapers play an important role in 2017 because, fractured and partisan as the country’s news outlets are, “the paper” continues to touch a broad swath of the citizenry’s breakfast tables each morning, offering rather unparalleled reach in today’s media climate.
Americans are not short on options for obtaining news preselected to reinforce their views. This à la carte news trend has made people, at best, unaccustomed or, at worst, downright unwilling to interact with viewpoints that conflict with their own.
Thanks for not shying away from bringing this piece into our homes to deal with on whatever terms we may.
Brandon Burke
Lawrence