Credit: Illustration: Matt Golding
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SAM KERR
Leave Sam be
Sam Kerr has been involved in an incident in London. Then every commentator, on the left and right, gets to tell us what the issues are that we need to address. By that stage, the whole focus has moved away from the actual incident, and we are into the territory of media opinion writers setting out their treatises so that we can be dazzled by their arguments. The commentators become “the stars”.
This happens time and again as commentators push their own personal “brands”.
It’s very tiresome, and it doesn’t add anything to the consideration of important issues in society.
David Fry, Moonee Ponds
Whose side are you on?
We must appreciate the irony. Sam Kerr – a highly accomplished and internationally respected Australian woman of colour, accused of racially slurring a British police officer, an employee and presumed citizen of the UK – the country that misappropriated the whole of Kerr’s own home country and did its best to exterminate its original occupants and traditional owners.
Are we tempted to ask which FA club the offended officer supports?
Ronald Burnstein, Heidelberg
Nuance or not
Thank you to your correspondent (Letters, “Consider the context ...”,8/3). It’s good to know that when I am in Nigeria and have a skin full I can call a local police officer a “stupid, black bastard” with impunity.
Fingers crossed they have the nuanced grasp of racial politics demonstrated by many in these pages. Rather than jumping to the conclusion that I am denigrating them for being different to me.
Peter Rushen, Carnegie
Leave Kate be
I’m no royalist, but why can’t Princess Kate be left alone? (“Vanishing Act”, 8/3). At the same time as her surgery was announced, it was stated she would not resume royal duties until after Easter. Any woman should be able to imagine what that surgery might have been. Even if wrong, it takes time to get over major surgery. How many people, male or female, have had surgery and said their doctor didn’t sign them off work for long enough, and have gone back to the doctor for added time, or wished they had? Give her the time, space, and privacy that most of us wish we had. It’s the decent and dignified thing to do.
Margaret Callinan, Hawthorn
Men are not the enemy
I am a man, and I take extreme umbrage with your correspondent’s claim (Letters, “Men are the enemy”, 8/3) that I am the “enemy”. Throughout the life of my son, who is now 28, I have educated him that women are his fellow humans and his equals, and that they deserve his respect and consideration.
Ian Usman Lewis, Kentucky, NSW
Not the majority of men
The problem of domestic violence towards women will never be solved while some people continue to hold the view that “all men are the enemy”, as your correspondent does (Letters, 8/3).
If women view all men as “the enemy”, then they are only inviting conflict. Statements like this do nothing to correct the behaviour of the small number of men who are violent towards women, but they do antagonise the 99.5 per cent of men for whom the very idea of causing harm to women is repugnant.
Greg Hardy, Upper Ferntree Gully
Condemning men
As expected, the opinions in Saturday’s Age (Letters, 8/3) condemn men in general following the alleged murder of Samantha Murphy.
This is counterproductive. If the male sex is demonised, men will feel undervalued and resentful.
Most men are loving family members and good citizens. While domestic violence is a problem that must be continuously addressed, this crime is a separate issue.
Lesley Black, Frankston
Blues brothers’ challenge
Carlton really shook their tail feathers for their column of Blues Brothers-clad supporters at the Gabba on Friday night. Reminiscent of the Richie Benauds at the cricket, the outfits are an early challenge for other clubs. But it’s still hard to top black and white stripes.
Glenda Johnston, Queenscliff
Team Biden
As an American-Australian, I am for Biden’s opportunity to beat Trump. Biden has the heart, truth, and world understanding on his side, and I believe most Americans will see this (“Fiery Biden moves to reset standing”, 9/3). Biden also has an intelligent and far-sighted team with which to work. He can beat the dangerous, nasty, name-calling Trump.
Barbara Fraser, Burwood
Tragic miscalculation
Far from ensuring their future security by pursuing their relentless scourging of Gaza in an effort to eradicate Hamas, Israel is condemning its youth to further retaliation.
This war is unlikely to be forgotten by the Palestinians and provides a huge pool of future recruits.
Many who previously sat on the fence are now fiercely opposed to the Israeli government’s actions. Jewish people worldwide are being blamed and antisemitism is on the rise.
Hamas’ actions appalled the whole world, but two wrongs never make a right. We are witnessing a tragic miscalculation that will adversely affect the world for decades to come.
Roger Holdway, Sorrento
Police tactics
Why can’t police be taught to shoot people in the leg when dealing with a person with a knife? Surely, that would stop them? Do they have to kill people?
Julie van den Driesen, Heathmont
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To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@theage.com.au. Please include your home address and telephone number below your letter. No attachments. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published.