Letters to the Editor

Foreign students, stop whining

The foreign students who walked off their summer jobs and are protesting their terrible work conditions in the Hershey packaging plant have a lot of nerve ("Protest to target Hershey," Friday). They are here as guests of the United States, and knew what they were signing up for. You don't have to be a medical student to know that working in a warehouse is not going to be easy or fun.

For the record, my son, who is an American, makes less per hour than they are making. He is happy to have his job in this rotten economy and would be thrilled to make 35 cents more per hour. These kids who claim their rent is too high at $400 per month have obviously not looked at the housing market.

They are unhappy that they don't have the money to travel and experience the American landscape. Really? Neither do I, and I live here. Perhaps they should go home and stop whining about their sorry summer and let that corporation give those jobs to American workers.

Marti Hagerty, Moorestown

Post-racial society? Not yet

America has witnessed some progress toward a "post-racial society" with the election of the first African American president. However, the racially-motivated killing in Mississippi just goes to show that we all have a long way to go.

Racial animosities always seem to raise their ugly heads whenever the economy takes a turn for the worse. The size of the pie becomes smaller and more folks are fighting for their slice of it. In addition, with the Internet, it has become rather easy for racists to operate while remaining anonymous.

Hatred is taught from the home. The suspects in Mississippi are young Caucasian boys, not older men who are keeping with their tradition. When parents stop teaching their kids to hate, Dr. Martin Luther King's dream will totally be realized. Until then, we will continue to read about more incidents such as this, not just in the South.

Linda D. Bryant, Philadelphia

Polman right about Republicans