Party Switch
I read the interview with Dallas mayor Eric Johnson [TM Talks, July 2024], and oh, Mayor Johnson, white liberals do not have a problem with a “strong-willed, competent, self-assured, highly educated Black man.” One was twice elected president of the United States. Johnson’s perception problems are of his own making, and his switch to the Republican Party has, in my opinion, put him in a camp with more criminals, not a better class of them.
Nancy Parham, Plano
The Band Plays On
What a beautiful oral history of the Livestrong bracelet that Emily McCullar recollected for us in “Making the Band” [July 2024]. In 2008 our 23-year-old son was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer, and we all wore our yellow silicone in solidarity, feeling somehow stronger. Thankfully he survived, though most of us gave up our bracelets after Armstrong’s “fall from grace.” But after reading about the genesis of the band, its greatness, and its continued legacy, I might just take that little ray of sunshine out of the box again and shed another tear or two.
Caryl Sherman-Gonzalez, Fort Worth
What “White Man” Means
In the Devils River article [“Can You Love a River to Death?,” July 2024], I was struck by a quote from river conservancy board member Randy Nunns: “To be able to stand in one spot and see what the very first humans here saw, and what the Spaniards first saw, and what the first white man saw—there’s something primal about that country on the water that relates to being a Texan.” The distinction between a “Spaniard” and a “white man” is problematic. Not all white men are English-speaking Anglo-Saxons. To embellish this misstatement with mythology about what a Texan is, given the complicated history and current demographics of our state, was a bit much.
Jose A. Perez Jr., Bellaire
Tenants’ Rights
I never dreamed I’d someday read an article like “The Eviction Cure” [July 2024], about attorney Mark Melton’s work in Dallas. My law firm has been fighting similar battles for the past two decades in postforeclosure cases, where all the incentives are aligned in favor of creditors and landlords. After an eviction, unskilled crews are often hired to clean out an apartment or home and can look at a tenant’s property as fair game. I’ve had sheriff’s deputies confront workers who had valuables in their pockets. This state can do better. Thank you for focusing on the big-picture consequences of the catastrophe of eviction and the need to put people on a better path after hard moments.
Michael Brinkley, North Richland Hills
Editors’ note: An August 2024 article, “Dome of Silence: Sexual Harassment in the Texas Senate,” reported that three current and former statehouse employees complained to state senator José Menéndez about sexual harassment by his then–chief of staff, Thomas Larralde. Menéndez denies he received any such complaints.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Texas Monthly with the headline “Roar of the Crowd.” Subscribe today.
