Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.
•••
"Help," read the headline Thursday above a package of letters about public safety in Minneapolis, including one from an Orono resident about an experience with a man on the street who seemed threatening to her. So help is what I will offer.
I grew up in the suburbs and have now lived in Minneapolis for more than 30 years, so I get it. Being scared is a very unpleasant feeling. Here are some tips that may help the next time you're in a big city:
1) Be prepared for panhandlers. Hand over a fiver if you feel like it, or just say "No, sorry" and be done with it.
2) Scared about your purse? Leave it at home and just carry a slim wallet in your jacket pocket.You don't need all that stuff anyway.
3) Don't expect a police officer on every corner to protect you. Carry yourself with confidence, be aware of your surroundings and don't act like a victim.
4) If someone gets too close, a firm "Hey pal, that's enough" will generally do the job.
The truth is, life in Minneapolis — or any big city — is a lot more interesting and challenging than life in Orono. If your travel goals are bigger than Disney World and Carnival cruises, you're going to need to toughen up a bit. I hope you'll give Minneapolis another try, because we have so much to offer. But if you're too frightened, so be it. Makes it easier for the rest of us to get reservations at all the amazing restaurants here. Take care.
Linda Lincoln, Minneapolis
•••
I have a restaurant near the end of the light-rail line in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis. We have so many out-of-town guests visiting for weddings, Twins games and other events.
I am often asked where they should visit while in town. Because I love the outdoors, it used be "Take the light rail to Minnehaha Falls." But that changed. Wasn't safe. So then I said, "Go to the Stone Arch Bridge." Not anymore.
There are many great places in Minneapolis to visit, but I am sorry to say that many folks will not give us another chance. So what do I tell my wonderful out-of-town guests when they ask me where to visit? And are we safe to walk downtown at night? Come on! We have to do better!
Kaye A. Stein, Maple Grove
•••
With jobs plentiful and job-seekers scarce, it's hard to imagine why any employable person, especially one with specialized training and skills, would seek out a job where the management routinely publicly denigrates employees, takes no responsibility for managing problem employees or recognizing good ones, and worst, does not support or stand behind them in a crisis. Yet Minneapolis officials seems surprised that there are few applicants for police jobs there.
Since the reason apparently isn't obvious to them, maybe some thought experiments would help. Imagine the shortages we'd have if doctors who make mistakes were treated the way cops are. Imagine putting one's safety on the line for a person in trouble and in return, getting jeers, threats and rocks thrown at them. Imagine trying to help people who refuse to help themselves by cooperating in any way. Who would want that job?
More money will do little to attract good candidates until some public respect is restored for the police. How about if Gov. Tim Walz declares a "Thank the Police" day in Minnesota? Just for one day, the papers could highlight positive stories and people could be encouraged to share and express appreciation for the many ways the police made a difference in their lives. Maybe city officials could also do some self-reflection on their role in this deteriorating situation and acknowledge mistakes they have made.
They'd better do something quick, and I hope the governor and Legislature are prepared to step in. Not just because Minneapolis is suffering (and it is), but because Minnesota has a lot to lose, economically and culturally, if Minneapolis turns into another Detroit.
Kathy Vittum, North St. Paul
GUN VIOLENCE
It can happen in Japan — but a lot more often here
I woke up Friday morning to the news that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed in Japan. The news reporter from Asia said, "This is the kind of thing that happens in America, not in Japan." The American news anchor then said that Japan had 10 shootings last year, and only one death. How long does it take to have 10 shootings in the U.S. — five minutes? Shame on us.
Kathleen Breen, Shoreview
•••
"[S]hredding organs until they look like 'an overripe melon smashed by a sledgehammer' " is a doctor's description of one or more bodies following the July 4th shooting at Highland Park, Ill. Not a lot of imagination is needed to picture this. We don't need actual photographs distributed to the public, considering the likely fallout. Priorities matter. Just the possibility that one very disturbed, violent individual with access to an assault rifle would feel compelled to be a copycat is the priority. The title of the commentary on July 8 in which the above quotation is located was "We need to see the 'unspeakable.' " No, we don't.
Jim Bartos, Maple Grove
WOMEN AND LANGUAGE
Consider this perspective
My friend sent me "A second front in the war on women" (Opinion Exchange, July 6), and it sparked a conversation about parenthood and reproductive rights. I'm a trans man. I don't ever want to get pregnant, but I still can.
When I had a pregnancy scare a few months ago, I was stressed about possibly being called a woman just to receive health care I needed. There's nothing wrong with a focus on womanhood for those who want it — it can be a beautiful thing. But I don't feel connected to that. Even getting a pregnancy test from the "feminine care" section, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb surrounded by pink packaging and smiling mothers.
The nurturing aspect only being attributed to the female sex is deeply rooted in sexism that I don't want, because I am still a deeply caring and nurturing person, but "motherhood" is not for me. Fatherhood, though, has more appeal. Remember, dads are parents, too.
Say "reproductive rights," "a person's right to an abortion," "reproductive health care," and, yes, "people who can get pregnant." (Though I agree: Please, no language focused on body parts.) Women aren't being erased by this language, but if you use gendered terms, you're erasing me. Awkward language is not a good reason to exclude hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Felix Lukens, Minneapolis, with contributions from Antonia Ritter
BRITTNEY GRINER
Made a mistake, all right
There is another letter American basketball star Brittney Griner should be writing besides the one to President Joe Biden pleading for help being released from her detention ("Griner enters guilty plea to drug charges in Russia," July 8): a public apology to citizens of the U.S. and to Biden for stupidly and irresponsibly causing an international incident on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dana Higgins, Coon Rapids
