Burning Quran another act of hate to be condemned
Many leaders in our community have already weighed in on the recent story regarding the burning of the Quran by a local Naperville teenager.
I am so saddened by this event, having spent my career as a teacher trying to instill an appreciation for the diversity of our magnificent world through literature, poetry, drama and self-expression.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul recently stated, “hate doesn’t stop at speech … it manifests itself into acts of violence, violence against houses of faith and schools and other places where people gather.”
And for those who declare the burning of the Quran an act of free speech, I offer this quote from Mobashra Tazamal, Aug. 8, 2023 from the Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University: “Choosing to burn the Quran … for a community that already faces discrimination and violence is not an expression of free speech; it is a bigoted act that encourages hate crimes, incites hatred and sows greater division in society when social cohesion and understanding is needed the most.”
Hopefully, this young man will come to regret his actions.
In addition, we should all take notice and act on the recent report issued by the Anti-Defamation League, “Hate in the Prairie State.” Our Muslim neighbors and friends are not the only targets of hate, as documented in this report. David Goldberg, Midwest Regional Director of the ADL, said, “Hate has been mainstreamed … it requires a whole-of-society approach.”
May we all do better by each other!
Dianne McGuire, Naperville
‘The Way We Were’ photos, columns illuminate our past
Early Naperville history offers a contemporary opportunity to identify facts, evaluate context and marvel at change. Thank you for “The Way We Were” column, which runs on Sundays.
I believe the aerial of downtown Naperville published Oct. 8 was taken between 1922 and 1925. Sts. Peter and Paul Church burned down in June 1922. The current church was dedicated in 1927. The church is absent from the landscape.
Pilgrim Addition, carved out of Ogden Avenue Addition, north of the tracks west of Washington saw one of its first homes completed in 1926. The area in the photo is shown as farm.
North-Western College changed its name to North Central College in 1926. It is mislabeled on the map where Community United Methodist Church stands.
Ogden Avenue was one of many Native American trails. In 1837 some Potawatomi and other First Nations moved west, sometimes forcibly under Army escort, camping near Naperville in Sweet’s Grove, now the northeast corner of Ogden and Naper.
We can thank earlier administrations and civic volunteers, particularly Mayor Peg Price, for rerouting Ogden Avenue out of downtown Naperville.
The 8-feet wide, 3-inch thick planks of Plank Road kept the railroad at bay long enough to plan for two underpasses and two cow tunnels to be included when the railroad was built. Yay! Today, the Webster Street cow tunnel would offer attractive and safe pedestrian access between schools, parks and shopping should momentum to do so appear.
The way we were and the way we are highlight the ever-present strengths of public/private partnerships and community engagement. Photographs offer keen insights. Keep the photos and stories coming!
Mary Lou Wehrli, Naperville
Ending Invest in Kids will help Illinois’ public schools
As supporters of our local public schools, where children of all backgrounds and abilities learn the skills to thrive in our democracy, we support full state funding for public education.
Currently, 82% of public schools in Illinois are inadequately funded. Yet since 2018, a program misleadingly called “Invest in Kids” has been siphoning off millions of dollars to support private schools without transparency or accountability. That program will thankfully end in fall 2024 unless legislators vote in October to extend it.
In Naperville, we are very fortunate to have great public schools. We want the same to be true for the rest of our state.
Families of different backgrounds meet and work together to support their children in public schools, where children have the invaluable opportunity to learn to respect and work alongside children with differences and disabilities. Public dollars should be used to support public schools, which open their doors to all kids without discriminating on the basis of religion, disability, immigration status or sexual orientation.
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Research shows that voucher programs do not improve academic outcomes. For the benefit of the 1.8 million Illinois children in our public schools and the public good in all our communities, the Invest in Kids program needs to end.
Please urge your legislators to vote no on any legislation in the fall veto session that revives or funds the Invest in Kids school voucher program.
Susan Craighead, President, The League of Women Voters of Naperville
Lee Eastman, President, AAUW Naperville Area
Susan Marshall, Public Policy Chair, AAUW Naperville Area
Peggy Frank, Public Policy Team, AAUW Naperville Area
Jill Lexier, State Policy Advocacy Chair, National Council of Jewish Women Illinois
Laura Welch, President, Illinois National Organization for Women
Dems embrace censorship while also shunning it
In the recent past, the Biden administration has coerced social media companies to remove content that it considered to be misinformation. This is a violation of our First Amendment right of free speech protection. The administration also tried to prohibit verbal speech but our courts overturned their attempt.
Now our local state government, which identifies with same party as the Biden administration, is trying to punish any public library that censors any book from their shelves by denying them further state funding. So, the same government party that wants to censor the spoken word does not want you to censor the written word.
America’s entire media enterprise fails to point out to the general public how our politicians speak with a “forked tongue.” Our Native American tribes can tell you how that “forked” treatment worked out for them.
Steven P. Collins, Naperville
We need border security, not more migrant money
In his letter to President Biden, Gov. Pritzker complained about the “refugees” being bused to Chicago from Texas and how federal aid hasn’t kept up.
Pritzker rightly points out that the situation is “untenable.”
Immigrants are sleeping in police stations, airport, and temporary shelters, making Chicago bureaucrats scramble to provide food, clothing and medical care — putting a greater strain on already limited services.
Instead of enforcing border security and upholding the legal process, they are spending gobs of tax dollars for the basic needs for tens of thousands of new arrivals.
While Democrats continue to parrot the “We are a Welcoming City” mantra, taxpayers are expected to pay the price for billionaire Pritzker’s generosity to those future voters who are intentionally skirting the U.S. immigration process.
USA Today reports more than 2.2 million without a health exam or criminal background check have crossed the border so far this year. Those numbers have risen to about 8,000 per day. And it’s expected to get worse.
Thanks to Democrat policies, the borders remain wide open. Yet they want us to believe that big government and more tax dollars are the solution. Don’t believe them! They are failing the American people on so many levels, including upholding their oaths of office.
David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Action, Mokena
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