Racial discrimination

I’d like to respond to Andrew Green’s letter (“Trump seeks to revive racial discrimination,” Feb. 14). In my mind, Mr. Green is one of those “old white guys” (his words, not mine) who believes that minorities are incapable of achieving success in the workplace based on their own merit. To me, this is the most insidious form of racism and doesn’t give people of color the credit they deserve. This ideology is rooted in virtue signaling by some white people, who believe that they’re actually benefitting minorities by saying, “You can’t possibly get this job on your own, so you need our help”!! What an insult!

The second part of this equation is that Mr. Green’s argument discriminates against other qualified applicants, who might miss out on a job opportunity because an employer has a certain quota they must meet. How is this fair? Nobody thinks it’s OK to “racially discriminate against minorities who dare to live and work in this country,” least of all, President Trump. He — and many Americans — simply believe that our country needs to be a meritocracy. I have a hypothetical question: Two pilots apply for the same position. One is decidedly more qualified than the other, but the second is hired instead, because of DEI initiatives. Which pilot would Mr. Green choose to have fly the plane? Be honest and give the answer you’d give if no one was there to hear you! My choice would be to have the pilot who is going to get me into the air and back on the ground again (safely), fly that plane, regardless of his or her color.

— Theresa Toni, Street

High BGE bills

I think a lot of the anger over the high energy cost is misplaced. My gas and electric supplier is WGL. My natural gas supply cost for this month is $66.19. BGE gas delivery cost is $151.32. I expect BGE to make as much profit as they can what ever pain it causes to us. That’s what corporations do. We are supposed to be represented by the PSC. They are appointed by the governor. They are the ones approving all the rate increases. They have constantly let us down.

— Mark Lusby, Essex

Is USAID filled with rats (or human equivalent)? Unlikely.

I must take vigorous exception to the recent political cartoon featuring Elon Musk as a cat terrifying USAID employees depicted as rats (“Billions in unspent aid lacks oversight after Trump targets USAID, watchdog warns,” Feb. 10).

Everyone is against fraud, waste and abuse. Is there fraud, waste and abuse in the United States Agency for International Development? Maybe, but where’s the evidence? All we get is allegations. If there is fraud, waste and abuse at USAID, shouldn’t it be found and dealt with?

Instead, the whole agency, which is inarguably doing good things, is being dismantled. It’s like removing your whole digestive system because you might have a bad appendix. Maybe instead of rats the cartoon should show sitting ducks.

— Sidney Turner, Catonsville

Thoughtful reform, not harmful cuts

I read The Baltimore Sun’s editorial, (“Dear Elon: Good Goals, Bad Methodology,” Feb. 14) and its argument— that ambition pursued without careful execution leads to failure — brought to mind the Trump Administration’s latest push to slash the federal health workforce (“White House Preparing Order to Cut Thousands of Federal Health Workers,” Wall Street Journal, Feb. 6). As a physician, I have seen firsthand how these so-called efficiencies translate into real-world suffering.

As a physician, I fully support eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in health care. Every dollar lost to inefficiency is a dollar that could have gone to patient care. A more efficient system benefits both patients and taxpayers. However, indiscriminately cutting federal health workers does not achieve this. Instead, it removes the very people who ensure that cancer patients receive treatment, that rural clinics stay open and that medical research moves forward. While individuals must take responsibility for shaping their own lives, patients cannot define their futures when the very structures that support their survival are dismantled. A patient denied access to a clinical trial due to funding cuts does not get to forge their own meaning; they are simply left to suffer.

This crisis is a moment for self-definition. And in this very moment, we must decide what kind of health care system we want to build. If we continue down a path where research funding dwindles, hospitals are understaffed and patients are left behind, then we are not just failing the sick — we are abdicating our collective responsibility. If existence truly precedes essence, then let us define our health care system through action — by investing in care, not cutting it away.

— Raya Elfadel Kheirbek, Baltimore

The letter writer is a medical doctor and professor of medicine.