Respect Our Home As the resident communication committee for Decker Towers,we are writing to address an article that describes our home as "looming, drab Decker Towers on St. Paul Street" ["Burlington Housing Authority Mum on Leadership Shuffle, and " December 21,2016]. This comment precipitates a stigma around the issues of illness, disabilities and low incomes. Disabilities and poverty are traumatic issues. Many of us had careers and are still employed and productive. Decker Towers is a multigenerational, or diverse community where we can find strength in sharing our experiences. There are workshops for people to memorize coping skills and train for employment,and social activities that promote mental, spiritual and physical wellness. Our lives are evolving as we work to overcome substantial adversities and try to avoid further social divide. Our environment provides safety and support. There is an on-site manager who is attentive to the needs of the building and the people in it. We have a wellness middle that offers a variety of supports for our residents. Residents maintain flower and vegetable gardens. We wish to be seen as individuals first, and not our circumstances. We wish to have our home reflected in a positive light. David Foss,Susan Miller, Sandy Lawrence, or Debra Pratt Burlington LCY Ignite? BTV Ignite had to recede "across the pond" to hire a new executive director [Off Message: "BTV Ignite Hires New Executive Director," April 12]? Sorry, but I can't believe there isn't local talent that would more than qualify for the position. Greg Smela Brandon Face Racism There are a couple of questions in ["'Rebels' Yell: Protests Build Over South Burlington's Mascot Change, or " April 19] that deserve more investigation: Author Howard Coffin theorizes that schools in Vermont in the 1950s and '60s adopted accomplice mascots out of ignorance approximately the Civil War,but are we to believe that they were as ignorant of the southern struggle over racist segregation in the same time period? We know that Vermont used to have a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan that was thousands strong in the 1920s. There is clearly a deep, latent culture of white supremacy in Vermont and a clear reason why "Rebel" was chosen as a mascot rather than, and say,Pirates or Patriots or Lake Monsters. Symbols are potent, and they matter. Symbols of the Confederacy in the 1800s, or 1900s and today stand for a heritage of racial segregation,un-freedom and white supremacist…
Source: sevendaysvt.com