Letters: Kaepernick's cause is right, just not his method of protest

WITH RESPECT to Jenice Armstrong's recent article on the national anthem and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, I wish to share a different point of view. I disagree with the method of protest, not the cause that inspires the protest. Better question to ask those who feel strongly about the cause of protest is, "What are you actually doing to solve the problem or to improve the system or to make a however small positive contribution to solving it?"

For example: What is Kaepernick's voting participation record - has he voted in every election for which he was eligible to vote? Have you? Has he donated or invested some of his wealth in effort to change the system? Actual donations, not Trumpian promises. Has he volunteered some of his offseason time? Has he proposed any methods or ideas to fix the situation? Or is he just another self-appointed evaluation authority who will sit/kneel until he deems to grant a passing grade to the nation?

Sitting on your butt/kneeling in the dirt will get some media attention, but what is needed is positive action. Does anyone really think we need more "calling attention" to this issue? That train left the station many lives ago. Just ask mothers who are mourning.

Standing respectfully for the national anthem or speaking the Pledge of Allegiance does not mean you have given the nation a passing grade on every possible issue or action, but it does mean you support (and commit yourself to) the ideals that all should be individually and collectively striving to attain. Our country is well aware of the issue, so additional attention grabbing that is counterproductively divisive is not needed. Positive action, the hard lifting over the long term by all hands, is what we need.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recently expressed a similar viewpoint as Armstrong's in a Washington Post column. My view is a different from his, and, while he has scored more points on the court than I, I have flown more combat missions than he. It's interesting what determines fame and gets views published.

Jack Cassidy, Fairfax, Va.

Radio host's lip service

Regarding Ronnie Polaneczky's column on "Dwayne from Swedesboro," the fake caller on 97.5 The Fanatic:

Lip service is exactly what we received from host Mike Missanelli when he said, "I would not have authorized a racially charged caller like that."

Although said he was "sensitive to the racial undertones involved," he spent two years interacting with radio station producer Pat Egan (aka Dwayne).

This insulting and deplorable activity went on under the watchful eyes of not only Missanelli - two other staffers, Matt Nahigian and Jason Myrtetus, also were aware of the use of "radio blackface."

It's outrageous and unfathomable that there were only suspensions issued. It's even more incredible that one of the lead characters got off without any penalty at all.

Pauline Taylor, Philadelphia

Police officer's tattoo

What was the Daily News thinking with its "That's Nazty!" headline? Didn't you learn anything from Dallas? Why would you put an officer's life at risk over a supposedly "racist tattoo"? Did he shoot a black man recently or was he just doing his job when that picture was taken? Even if that's a Nazi tattoo, so what? He obviously doesn't have any complaints against him or that story would have run. This is a free country. And the department didn't have a policy regarding tattoos, correct? So where's the story?

You printed the guy's full name. You put this man's life in danger, and you're responsible if someone gets shot or killed as in Dallas, whether it's him by a Black Lives Matter idiot or, hopefully, him returning fire and not missing his target.

That's a new low, even for you guys.

Steven J. Donegan, Essington, Pa.

D.A.'s disturbing gifts

It is disturbing enough that District Attorney Seth Williams received $160,000 in gifts during his time in office, but the fact that $800 of those "gifts" came from people working under him is unforgivable. Why would people who surely earn much less than their boss give him so much money? Is he really such a great guy? Why did they feel obligated to help him feather his nest? Usually, people do not give large amounts of money to their higher-earning bosses.

It sounds as they were somehow coerced. Why did so many other people feel the need to give him gifts, free services, vacations and a free roof? What made him decide he was so entitled?

Williams has clearly been using his position to enrich himself unethically. If his actions were not against the law, it is past time for a new law to be written. If Williams is not forced out of office because of these recent revelations, hopefully, he will be seriously challenged in the next election.

Glynnis Gradwell, Philadelphia