Rachel Dolezal was president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP when she posed for this 2015 photo. Dolezal resigned June 15, 2015, amid a furor over racial identity that erupted when her parents came forward to say she has been posing as Black for years when she is actually white. She has changed her name to Nkechi Diallo and now lives in Tucson, where she was working as a part-time instructor for Catalina Foothills Unified School District. District officials said she is no longer employed there after they learned Tuesday of her OnlyFans social media content.
Background check anyone?
Re: the Feb. 15 article “School district drops instructor after OnlyFans exposure.”
Just how did Rachel Dolezal Nkechi Diallo get hired by the Catalina Foothills schools? She has lied about her past, falsely claiming she was Black, committed welfare fraud, filed lawsuits claiming she wasn’t hired because she was white. Obviously the school district did not do any kind of background check. If they did they would have found Nkechi Diallo DID NOT exist until recently. But, then again, her hiring would check off a lot of boxes on the DEI scorecard.
William Long
Foothills
Prejudice is a human issue
Re: the Feb. 15 article “Black History Month — The ‘basketballist’.”
I wanted to thank the editors of The Daily Star for the excellent opinion piece by Gary Franks which showed, basically, that prejudice is not limited to one group of people, and that it need not define our lives. Prejudice is not a racial issue. It is a human issue. One only needs to look at the wars between African tribes, or the senseless feud between the Hatfields and McCoys (over a stolen pig) to see that prejudice is not fundamentally about skin color. We all tend to distrust each other and would be wise to heed Jesus’ words about not hating and judging other people, I personally liked the basketball analogy, because, at nearly 70 years old, I still enjoy a good game of pickup basketball with guys who could be my grandkids. One more kind of prejudice we need to work hard to eliminate is “old guys can’t play.” Come on. We’re really not that bad!
John Warkentin
Northwest side
PragerU.com misrepresented by cartoon
Re: the Feb. 11 editorial cartoon on page A14 by Steve Greenberg
PragerU.com is an educational website whose videos will now be optionally available in Arizona classrooms. But the Arizona Daily Star often denigrates what it perceives as conservative and recently ran an editorial cartoon badly misrepresenting the site.
Distorting a video PragerU did about Christopher Columbus, the cartoon had the line, “Slavery wasn’t so bad, said Columbus, almost.” More accurate would have been — not. The video actually has Columbus agreeing that slavery is evil.
Other quotes in the cartoon were skewed as well.
PragerU.com, portrayed as “far right” but in fact objective, has over 600 five-minute videos for anyone wanting intelligent, concise insight into a variety of topics as well as lots of additional resources for kids.
I encourage Star readers to investigate this impressive website for themselves. You’ll likely be surprised at the contrast between the Editorial cartoons portrayal and the reality of PragerU.
Barney Brenner
Northwest side
Christian nation on abortion
Re: the Feb. 15 letter “Abortion bans and the shocking results.”
The letter relates the number of calculated pregnancies from rape in the 14 states with strict abortion bans, 65,000, a high calculation indeed. But another shock is the implied quick fix to rape. That is, the opportunity to abort every pregnancy that results from rape. The violence of rape is solved by more violence. The second victim of rape is “eliminated.” How “Pontius Pilate” of them. We’re not a true Christian nation anymore.
Every year Planned Parenthood receives hundreds of millions of dollars from government agencies, corporate entities, Medicare, patient fees and private donors. All of this money is fungible and contributes to their main purpose: Abortion. These kinds of yearly millions can be better spent on care during pregnancy and post-birth situations such as housing, material needs, foster care, adoption, etc. That’s what a truly Christian nation would strive for.
Daniel Pryor
West side
TCC $100M makeover
Re: the Feb. 16 article “$100M TCC renovation project finally complete.”
TCC’s $100M renovation rockets us (and our visitors) into a technologically advanced realm. Fantastic futuristic entertainment options await the rich and famous and their families and friends. I hope our elites are also generating ideas about bridging the growing economic divides between residents. Poverty is not pretty or comfortable or amusing. How is such a stark contrast in the standards of living between the haves and have-nots fun for anyone?
Mary DeCamp
Downtown
Commission majority important
Many of us are so focused on the top of the 2024 election ballot, we forget there is a bottom of the ballot as well. This July we have the opportunity to pick up three democratic seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Why is this important? Because the Commission has a lot of power in the regulation of public corporations. If you recently had a gas bill from Southwest Gas, as I did, you may have been shocked by the huge increase in the bill amount. But you can do something about this by casting your vote in the July 30th primary. To vote, you must be registered by July 1, 2024. Every election where democratic seats can be increased deserves your vote.
Sally Mayersohn
Northwest side
Losers and winners!
If Donald Trump loses the 2024 presidential election but every other Republican running for office throughout the Country wins, will the Republicans still say it was a stolen election?
Don Benjamin
Foothills
How old is Biden?
I’m not a joke writer for President Biden, although he could use one. But I give the president permission to use this joke. The next time some Captain Obvious points out that he’s old, he should borrow a bit from Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show and have the audience shout out, “How old are you?”
Biden replies, “I’m so old I remember when Republicans loved law and order and hated Russia. Now Republicans hate law and order and love Russia!”
John Vornholt
Northeast side
The Supremes
On February 8th, the state of Colorado appeared before the US Supreme Court concerning the state’s disqualification of Trump to appear on their primary ballot for president. Colorado thought that they would have a “Fair and Balanced” presentation and discussion with the Supremes. Well they got a “Fair and Balanced” presentation and discussion but it was based on the FOX News interpretation of “Fair and Balanced”. The “Supremes” had their minds made up ahead of time. Their biggest concern and questions revolved around the “catastrophic” event for millions if Trump was left off the ballot and nothing around the “catastrophic” events if he was on the ballot. Let’s see according to the 14th Amendment section 3, Trump who at the time was still President did violate the 14th Amendment section 3. So what about the “millions of people” who would be disenfranchised, appalled and confused by who does the law of the land really apply too. Shame on you “Supremes”. Term limits are long overdue for Supremes.
Frank Flasch
Midtown
Eau de Donald
Cash-strapped Donald Trump is hawking his own celebrity cologne to raise funds! This seems totally unnecessary and silly, as his malodorous pheromones have already wafted far and wide. Wikipedia defines pheromones as “a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species...they are known to affect the behavior of the receiving individuals”. At last, MAGA cultism explained!
Deb Klumpp
Oro Valley
Mean children at play
We are witness to the rise of clusters of fools out of the dunce heap in the Republican Party. The whole Party is in a hopeless quandary of having members pose as adults while being brats. Maturity and character are not in evidence here. It is their childish minds acting big and important.
Even now, this is the stuff of nightmares. The Republican congressmen march in step as robots are taught to do and speak with the confidence of parrots who have learned their lines. They think the end justifies the means, and the meaner the better. These Republicans are what is dangerous about AI, without the I.
If Trump is elected, and the dragon is out of his cave, his trolls will follow him like little baby ducks for their soaking. They say the crime does not pay, but we all will pay for his.
Ron Lancaster
North side
Trump — Biden
As we witness more heated debate regarding Biden and Trump I believe there is a simple resolution. After Trump is officially named the Republican nominee there should be a series of debates. The questions could be compiled by a collection submitted from the public. Both would have an opportunity to spell out what the next four years could bring. They both are interviewing for the job although both have been President. Hopefully it would shut down all the rhetoric. Biden’s competency, or lack of, will be displayed and Trump could outline what he would do to “Make America Great Again.”
Bill Dowdall
Oro Valley
Biden transactions from 2017
Re: the Feb. 17 letter “Biden family biz was Joe Biden, period.”
The writer of the above letter failed to point out that the Biden family business transactions mentioned were made in 2017. At that time Joe Biden was NOT the Vice-President nor was he in any position wherein he could influence US policy (especially since Trump was POTUS at the time). Hunter Biden’s business partner came forward in 2020 after Hunter Biden’s laptop emails were disclosed involving business deals with a “Chinese Communist Party controlled company” which is exactly what Ivanka Trump was doing at the same time and was in a much more influential position.
We’ll see what Hunter Biden’s partner will testify, but you can bet he is ignorant of what constitutes a foreign agent under the law and what actions are covered by RICO. Or maybe he is just trying to save his own skin.
Cindy Soffrin
Northeast side
Personnel decisions
Here’s a thought — let’s hire Michael Ortega or Steve Kozachik to run the U of A.
When faced with a huge fiscal deficit, current UA President Bobby Robbins promises not to fill vacant positions one day, threatens low-level workers’ jobs, then announces multi-million contracts for a couple of new sports jobs (though noticeably disparate rates for male and female hires). Bobby should resign. Move to a tropical island and host fabulous parties. Leave our public school in the hands or competent men of integrity. Please, Bobby?
Mary DeCamp
Downtown
The new appeasers
MAGA adherents have clearly become the New Appeasers analogous to those such as Neville Chamberlain in Britain and The America First Committee, both of whom resisted conflict with the Nazis in the 1930s. Some Republicans disagree with Trump’s bromance with his buddy Putin, whom he calls “very smart”. Unfortunately, more of them seem to agree with Senator Ron Johnson that “Vladimir Putin will not lose this war’, contrary to the evidence so far.
With a Trump victory this fall the US would become aligned with Putin’s Russia against the democracies of Western Europe, favoring terroristic regimes in places like Ukraine, reminiscent of the wartime regimes of Quisling in occupied Norway and Petain in Vichy France. Let us not be like fallen hero Charles Lindbergh, who saw Nazi victory as certain and who vigorously opposed US involvement against the Nazis.
Instead, let our better angels prevail, providing support for Ukraine against Putin’s terroristic, unjustified invasion while we still can at relatively low cost and without committing lives of our young people.
Charles Giffin, MD
Foothills
Dropping support of Rialto
The Rialto theater has chosen to politicize art. It has not engaged in prohibited political activity regarding a campaign for public office, but it should not have tied art to politics. I am dropping my support of the Rialto after many years of support or membership. I doubt if I will attend any events there lest my money lead to their political activities.
Richard Bacal
Midtown
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Border safety for immigrants
Re: the Feb. 13 article “Aid workers risked arrest for helping migrants.”
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” — Coretta Scott King.
The excellent and thorough article by Emily Bregel delineates both the complexity of the issues and the unselfish compassion of the volunteers from No More Deaths, Desert Samaritans, Humane Borders and others in caring for refugees despite personal risk. Truly, these heroes represent our best selves, for Southern Arizona and the nation. Regardless of one’s position, human compassion mandates that the frightened and desperate people coming to the border do not deserve to die of exposure to cold, or of the brutal heat in the summer. Customs and Border Patrol is not to blame for the inaction of Congress adequately to fund and equip them, and fortunately these humanitarian groups are there. They are people and should not be pawns in a political game.
Abraham R. Byrd III
North side
