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Personal history could
lend understanding
Re: “Antisemitic display brings calls for more understanding” (Page A1, Dec. 12).
As a proud third generation Jewish-American who lost family in the Warsaw Ghetto and Neuengamme concentration camp, I read with both sadness and anger of the Branham High School students who saw fit to create a human swastika and quote Adolph Hitler. Education and understanding are ultimately the answer.
To contribute to that effort, I wish to introduce the Branham Bruin students to my great Uncle Chaim Sternlicht, his wife and son. In September 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland, and Chaim made the fateful decision to return to his native Poland from Palestine to join the resistance. While his wife and son perished in the Warsaw Ghetto, he was ultimately captured by the Nazis and imprisoned at the Flossenburg, Sachenhausen and, finally, Neuengamme concentration camps. He died at the latter on Jan. 5, 1945. He was one of an estimated 6 million Jews murdered. I welcome any Branham student to ask more.
Barry Goldman-Hall
San Jose
Stop monstrosities
at the ballot box
Re: “Builder’s remedy project approved” (Page B1, Dec. 6).
California housing policy has reached the point of absurdity. Given all of the “builder’s remedy” projects plaguing our state, like the one planned for 940 Willow St., I am convinced that what is happening in our neighborhoods is not based on “sound reasoning, but on ideological extremism,” and, of course, developer greed.
Housing activists, and the elected officials who support them (e.g., Gavin Newsom, Scott Wiener, Buffy Wicks, Dave Cortese), just want to stick it to people who own homes — plain and simple. If you disagree, please take a moment to notice all of the vacancies in these hideous monstrosities that have already been constructed throughout San Jose and ask your elected officials why they are allowing even more hideous monstrosities, with no parking and infrastructure requirements, to be constructed in our neighborhoods.
Vote anti-housing, anti-growth, anti-development and save our neighborhoods.
Tina Toni
San Jose
State leads reluctant
nation in climate fight
Re: “Cap and trade has turned into a backdoor tax on Californians” (Page 6 Dec 12).
We have a climate crisis fast approaching because industrial nations have filled the atmosphere over the decades with excessive amounts of greenhouse gases, mainly CO2. We are already seeing the effects of this crisis in excessive floods, wildfires and an increase in violent storms. California is thankfully leading the nation toward solutions, and I am proud of that.
Alternatives to the automobile between San Francisco and Los Angeles are needed that don’t involve burning fossil fuels. A bullet train is an excellent solution. It will also help to connect coastal California with the Central Valley. Bullet trains are popular and well-used around the world. Leadership on this issue is needed, and Gov. Newsom has provided that.
Steve Eittreim
Palo Alto
Languishing schools
do lasting damage
Santa Clara County is known worldwide for innovation, technology and wealth, yet thousands of students living in the area attend underfunded schools and face barriers that limit their educational opportunities. As a community, we cannot continue ignoring the growing educational gap that disproportionately affects low-income students, English language learners, foster youth and children from immigrant families.
While some students benefit from small class sizes, private tutoring and modern facilities, others learn in overcrowded classrooms with outdated textbooks, limited technology access and not enough counselors to support their academic and emotional needs. These inequalities violate the basic human right to a quality education and create long-term consequences that stay with these students for years to come.
Devyn Valuch
San Jose
Trump bashing Somalis
has a broader purpose
Donald Trump’s attacks on Somalis, Somalia and Rep. Ilhan Omar are not random outbursts — they’re part of a broader strategy of demonization. By labeling entire communities as “garbage” or dangerous, Trump employs tactics long used by authoritarian movements: target vulnerable groups, stoke fear and erode democratic norms.
We are watching this play out across government. References to marginalized groups have been scrubbed from federal sites. Public servants have been pushed out for not aligning politically. Federal agents have detained immigrants and activists without accountability. Even lethal actions abroad have been ordered without transparency. These are not isolated events; they signal a shift toward the normalization of abuse of power.
Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive overnight. It creeps in through dehumanization and silence. Every American, regardless of party, must reject this rhetoric and defend democratic values through civic engagement, public pressure and, ultimately, the ballot.
Jordan Sher
San Carlos
Trump selling damaged
goods with visa plan
Can anyone take it seriously that Donald Trump wants immigrants to pay a million dollars for U.S. citizenship with his Gold Card Visa plan?
People who have professional credentials should be paid to live in the U.S.; things are getting so bad here. Who wants to pay to live in a country where our freedoms are slowly dissolving away? Marjorie Taylor Greene can’t even criticize him without getting a bomb threat.
If our economy continues to worsen with no end to inflation in sight, more people here will want to pay to buy a citizenship in another country instead.
Bill Graham
Salinas
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