Letters: The federal government once stood up for what was right. What's changed?

San Francisco Chronicle​

6 hours ago

As a Black teenager growing up in Detroit in the 1960s, I was horrified after seeing news coverage of the peaceful demonstrators, marchers and children being attacked and brutalized.
The demonstrators, mostly Black Americans, were simply asking for the same rights that were afforded to the majority of Americans.
Today's demonstrations against the Trump administration's immigration roundups in Los Angeles and elsewhere remind me of the Civil Rights Movement.
The National Guard is deployed in Los Angeles, purportedly to protect federal property. The last time the guard was used in a disputed manner was 1957.
Nine Black high school students attempted to enroll at the all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. The Democratic Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called in the National Guard to prevent it. In response, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent the Army to protect the students.
The irony is self-evident. The cause of the peaceful demonstrators in Los Angeles and beyond is righteous. It is a shame that the federal government under President Donald Trump no longer protects the disenfranchised and marginalized.
Clarence Boyd, Oakland
Maintain health care
I was relieved when Sen. John McCain voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act in 2017. As a breast cancer survivor with two pre-existing conditions, the thought of losing my health care was terrifying.
I recently overcame another bout of breast cancer, and I'm grateful a second mastectomy was avoided. Medicare's follow-up care has been superb.
Now we're facing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, which threatens the health care coverage of 16 million Americans by 2034. The proposed bill includes substantial cuts to Medicaid and changes to the Affordable Care Act that will affect low-income individuals and families.
What kind of society are we if we fail to support our sick, elderly and disabled? We need to pressure Congress to refuse a huge deficit increase while simultaneously denying health care to vulnerable populations.
It's not crazy
You might think that I am a Republican.
I believe in fiscal responsibility.
I support a balanced federal budget.
I support a strong immigration policy.
I support a strong national defense.
I support a rational and fair tariff policy.
I believe in fair and honest elections.
But I am not a Republican.
I am a Democrat.
And just because I have empathy for the most vulnerable and defenseless among us, that also does not make me 'a radical left lunatic.'
Bill Schrupp, Lafayette