Page 4 - Mid Valley Times 7-22-21 E-edition

Thursday, July 22, 2021 | A4 | Mid Valley TiMes Editorial & Opinions
Serving the Readers of the Reedley Exponent, Dimuba Sentinel and Sanger Herald.
A Mid Valley Publishing Newspaper
Founded March 26, 1891, in a two-story building on the corner of 11th and F streets, by A.S. Jones
In my OPINION The damage of 'wokeness'
spreading to our military
While you are considering what the
hell ever happened to the educational
system in the United States, ask your-
self why critical race theory, political
correctness and a general dumbing
down of school classes is taking place.
In that context, consider that China is
number one in the world in reading,
math and science scores. The United
States ranks number 26. It's a safe
bet that China isn't concerned with critical race theory, transgenderism, and using the “appropriate” pronoun or sharing communal bathrooms.
There can be little quality of life and advancement of mankind unless driven by a working knowledge of reading, math and science. Indications are that an examination of the syllabus prepared by educators for the edification of your child is really problematic. Every indication is that American students are being “educated” using the lowest common denominator and the instructor's political lean- ings. World-wide rankings certainly seem to bear that out!
The damage being done by “wokeness” to the minds of our children and grandchildren is, in itself, extreme- ly harmful while that same “wokeness” being used on our military impacts at an entirely different level and is absolutely frightening. Soldiers perform as brothers and this injection of divisive thinking of racial tactics is downright dangerous. We can't think of anything that would impact morale more than this mindless move.
It seems that all soldiers, regardless of color, will wonder what the hell is going on with the leadership and brass. No less than the 28th Secretary of Defense, Loyd Austin III, is pushing the narrative and earlier had asked the military to “stand down” while brass sought out “radi- cal and subversive” thought. Not to be outdone by civilian leadership, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, actually went before Congress to defend critical race theory and the new “touchy-feely” military.
Meanwhile the Chinese are busy instilling “manliness” in their soldiers. As I have said before, they seem to un- derstand that, in defending borders, the primary job of the military is to kill people and break things. I know that sounds a bit crass, but just think about it for a minute. The military of any country should never become politicized. Ours has gone completely off the rails in that direction This area of leadership should be completely apolitical.
One can bet that the Russians and Iranians are not overly concerned with political correctness, either. If you doubt that for a minute, do the research and check it out. They have to be laughing at us.
Every indication is that the Chinese believe that con- trol of the high seas will play prominently in the next great conflict. That is well demonstrated by the lengths they have gone to expand their number of warships. Meanwhile, the extraordinarily high number of catas- trophes that have befallen the American Navy recently seem to indicate we are spending far too much time teaching “woke” diversity instead of combat readiness. God forbid that such a great conflict occur, but with our current leadership in government and the “enlightened” military leadership, one faces a frightening prospect.
There are at least four areas of our lives as American citizens that never should be politicized. That would be medicine, the military, law enforcement, and the Inter- nal Revenue Service. Unfortunately, with the swamp that exists in Washington, they have all been transformed into a political hammer and now those insiders carry the water for one of our political parties. It's a sorry testa- ment that far too many political operatives have become embedded in the governmental infrastructure.
Perhaps it is now time that we begin to pay attention to those low test scores in reading, math and science. It's far too easy for people who are poorly educated and instead are being fed nothing but propaganda to be led like lemmings. The price we pay could be a bitter one.
Sanger to honor newest pro football Hall of Famer Tom Flores on Sept. 18
Fred Hall — Publisher
Jon Earnest — Editor
Dick Sheppard — Editor Emeritus
Fred Hall
In two weeks, Sanger na- tive Tom Flores will experi- ence his greatest professional athletic achievement – official induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In less than two months, his hometown will honor the achievement with a large "welcome home" celebration for the longtime former Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders player and coach.
Downtown Sanger will be the site of the celebration from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18. At the event, the city will hold a ribbon cutting for "Tom Flores Boulevard" and formally dedicate the large mural of Flores, who guided the "Silver and Black" to Su- per Bowl titles in the 1980 and '83 seasons, respectively. The mural is located at the southwest corner of 7th and N streets.
It's a fitting and timely tribute to Flores, who made the journey from Sanger High
School to Fresno City College, then-College of the Pacific (now UOP), and finally to the expansion Oakland Raiders in the new American Football League in 1960. His trailblaz- ing football career included being pro football's first His- panic starting quarterback and the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl.
The street party will in- clude a beer and wine gar- den, live music, artisan crafts, a kids tailgate and special guests who will be revealed later. The highlight will be Flores in attendance with the familiar gold Hall of Fame jacket symbolic of his induc- tion.
For more information on the event, call the Sanger Dis- trict Chamber of Commerce at (559), 875-4575.
•••
Early last week, we re-
ceived a breakdown on cita- tions issued by the Dinuba
Police Depart-
ment when it
came to pos-
sessing or fir-
ing off illegal
fireworks. Lisa
Casas, records
technician with
the depart-
ment, said that four citations were issued in the days prior to Independence Day, and then 15 more citations were handed out on the Fourth of July.
While police log calls for illegal fireworks continued well more than a week after the holiday, those calls seem to have settled down. as the month has progressed. It also appears the region managed to avoid any significant grass- land or structure fires caused by the illegal blasts, which is good news.
Jon Earnest is news-sports editor for The Times.
Jon Earnest
Sharing memories of a Gangster Mother
But, as always, that's only one man's opinion.
By Sergio Coronel
Guest columnist
I grew up in a Fresno County city overwhelmed with poverty and a significant gang presence. The youngsters I grew up with lived in broken homes with ei- ther parent on drugs. My clos- est friend, who would become a brother to me, came from a single-parent household with a mother on drugs. I soon real- ized my friend’s mom was dif- ferent from all the other moth- ers — she was a gangster from the varrio (neighborhood). I was 13 years old when I met my friend, his older brother, and his mother. I remember meeting his mother and seeing a bandana hanging from behind her left pocket. In the streets, every gang banger knew her, and all the older gang members respected her. I recall sitting on the couch with my friend play- ing video games and noticed several older gang members walking through the living room into the kitchen area to meet with my friend’s mother. My friend’s mom always told us that we would become gang members one day and be re- spected by the older homeboys
(members of the gang). This home became a hotspot for gang meetings, drug sales, and gang violence. My friend’s mother embraced me like a son and vowed to protect me. She then introduced us to all the home- boys. My homeboy’s mother told me one time in front of her two sons, “we may not have the best things in the world, a lot of money, but what we could offer you is balls [having courage]." Her vision of all three of us be- coming gang members came to fruition as we joined the lo- cal gang, and violence soon ensued. My best homeboy’s mother always helped us out in the streets by offering a hideout from the cops and defending us from rival gang members. She had no fear and always told us never to be a punk (never shy away from a fight) and always take off first (throw the first punch) if someone disrespect- ed us. In the street where my homeboys and their mom lived, gang warfare was an everyday occurrence. Because of the vio- lence we created, older home- boys referred to our street as the stronghold of the town. We all took great pride in the gang
life and had goals in making a name for ourselves in prison. However, our dream did not materialize as my homeboy’s mom died unexpectedly due to an accidental injury. I walked out from the gang life because of an incident I witnessed, and my two homeboys became ad- dicted to drugs. My two home- boys and their mother came from a dysfunctional home where love was nonexistent and where violence thrived. Nevertheless, I managed to survive the gang violence and made a positive change in my life. I am close to graduating from the Criminology masters program at State University, Fresno. I am also the co-founder of Youngsters for Change. This grassroots organization seeks to navigate and mentor young- sters towards a life of change. I will use my education and lived experience to save youth in sim- ilar circumstances.
Sergio Coronel is a Fresno State graduate in criminology and history, and is studying to- ward his master's degree. He is the co-founder of Youngsters for Change.
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MID VALLEY TIMES invites letters from the public on any topic of local relevance. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity or brevity, and we reserve the right to NOT publish them if they could be deemed libelous or profane. Letters should be 350 words or less, and bear the author's name, address, and phone number. Letters can be mailed, emailed, submitted via our website, or personally delivered to: Editor, Reedley Exponent, 1130 G St, Reedley CA 93654.
QUOTE
“Examinations are formidable even to the best prepared, for the greatest fool may ask more than the wisest man can answer.”
— Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)
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