Chuck Dunham, publisher of the Montezuma Record, is not a racist, just impolitic in his observation. I write this as an African American. He has not looked beyond his observation and seen that the truth is that Americans have historically never had a respect for teachers and education in general.

Children, except in the bourgeoisie, have always been useless because they require an education paid for by conservative taxpayers who resent the poor and working from sponging off them.

But, I have another bone to pick in my own town, class warfare.

The Chauncey project’s decision-making process is class warfare par excellence. After the construction of The Chauncey, the College Green neighborhood will effectively be ghettoized behind a 20-story glass and chrome wall. If you have not read “We” by Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamiatin, now is the time.

Iowa City Council has set the parameters — the power elite against stability: homeowners, small real estate owners, and renters alike, that middle class concerns are not council concerns.

The same goes for small business concerns as is evident from the short shrift the New Pioneer Co-op and the Bike Library are getting. Both businesses are Iowa City institutions. The former pays a living wage plus benefits, the latter performs a unique service.

Mary Gravitt

Iowa City