Empathy with racial limits is no moral compass Utica, N.Y.: When federal agents killed Renée Good in Minneapolis, outrage erupted instantly. People marched, demanded answers and denounced ICE as a system with no real safeguards against abuse. They were right to be angry. Any enforcement agency that can kill a woman in her own vehicle and face minimal oversight is a danger to all of us. But we need to be honest: This exact danger was on full display long before Renée Good’s name made national news. In 2024, 13-year-old Nyah Mway, a Karen refugee child living in Utica, was shot and killed by local police. His family fled genocide in Burma only to lose their son here, in a city that advertises itself as welcoming to refugees. The investigation cleared the officers. No structural reforms followed. And many of the voices expressing horror now were nowhere to be found. This isn’t about comparing tragedies. It’s about confronting a deeper truth: ICE and police departments operate from the same root problem — broad authority, minimal safeguards and a long history of violence against marginalized people. If we only recognize the danger when the victim resembles us, we are not morally grounded. We are practicing selective outrage. A just society can not afford empathy with borders. Good deserves justice. So did Mway. So does every person harmed by systems allowed to operate with impunity. When our outrage follows resemblance instead of principle, the systems aren’t the only things that need reform. Our moral compass does, too. Chris Sunderlin State violence started it Orange, Conn.: To Voicer Bradley Morris: It was interesting that your response was posted just above Voicer Enid Graham’s letter. She wrote that every morning, she wakes up with a feeling of dread. “What atrocities will President Trump’s brutal secret police have perpetrated on civilians today?” The Blackshirts and Gestapo continue to deprive citizens of the ability to speak their minds. Protesters would behave were they not being so violently attacked by out-of-control ICE agents and National Guard. Violence begets violence. ICE breaks into private homes without a required court order. It’s ICE agents who drag citizens out of their cars on nothing but suspicions. ICE is clearly initiating these volatile confrontations. These activities are on video. You just don’t want to believe your eyes. Sad. Fred Portoff Take a stand, senators Manhattan: Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland and Minneapolis were ordinary places until ICE and Border Patrol arrived with guns, tear gas and flash-bang grenades and turned them into war zones. Now residents fear for their lives on the streets, in their cars and even in their homes, so cruel is the violence perpetrated by this invading force. These untrained shock troops are agents of chaos. The Department of Homeland Security appropriations bill just passed in the House of Representatives with no restrictions on federal agents’ lawless violence, including breaking into people’s homes without a warrant. Unlike House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who failed to whip Democratic votes against it, handing the decision to the GOP, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer must use his leverage to exact specific restrictions on DHS. Federal agents must lose their free pass to injure and kill civilians. They must be held liable under criminal and civil laws. Martha Alexander False confidence Manhattan: Wondering how many extra deaths were caused to the Iranian people by comrade Trump’s utterance of “help is on the way.” He found 15 seconds in his 24-hour fantasy day that needed filling in. Four-thousand deaths spurred on by false bravado. No help was coming. I’m glad we didn’t use our military, but it guaranteed some Iranian people false confidence. Bay of Pigs revisited. Needless murder. Michael Malewich Unite against the U.S. Long Beach, L.I.: Trump continues to piss off our closest friends, including those in NATO, with his tariffs and bullying. Trump changes the story daily, and it has passed the point of retribution. Countries all over the world are feeling his bullying tactics. They’ll soon unite against America. Here’s the plan that would sink Trump’s ship: Countries feeling bullied would unite and agree to work with China under certain conditions. They’d agree to switch their buying habits from the U.S. to China if China agrees to some demands, including becoming more democratic, supporting Taiwan’s independence and a few other demands that would bring China into the fold. Money talks, so China wouldn’t turn down the chance. World order would be rearranged and the U.S. would lose trading partners, money and the ability to hold other countries hostage. Ben Waxman Supported still Western Springs, Ill.: As Trump adds his name to the Kennedy Center, disfigures the White House with a ballroom, claims he should have won the Nobel Peace Prize, bombs boats off Venezuela, seizes oil tankers, invades Venezuela in violation of international law (how can the U.S. criticize Russia for doing the same thing?) and claims the United States should control Greenland, threatening the longstanding NATO treaty, we see him descend deeper into egomania and megalomania and still have approval ratings as high as 40%. Richard Barsanti Devalued life Brooklyn: Not only is Trump the worst president we’ve ever had, but his administration has promoted some sneaky deals. While everyone has had their eyes on Greenland, mining companies are salivating in anticipation of the opening of federal land to their destructive ventures. Great swaths of once-public land loved and cherished by generations will soon be destroyed for the wealth of the very few. There’s also the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency that human life is worth nothing in monetary terms. That is now the official policy that will enable polluters to have immunity as they wreak havoc on communities situated near their industries. “These people have no value” is the culmination of years of lobbying against environmental protection and the humanity and natural world it has tried to protect. Ed Temple Try side by side Brooklyn: Since there are three manufacturers bidding for the contract to have their gates installed in the subway system, they should install the three models next to each other at a subway station and see which one works better. Keep in mind, fare beaters will still find a way to get into the system. Charlie Pisano Where’s the solidarity? Manhattan: Nurses provide support to doctors. Where is the support from the doctors’ union? And from other unions? They should all be on the picket line with the nurses. I don’t hear their voices anywhere. Shame. Minette Gorelik Fair compensation Manhattan: Big, prominent hospitals in New York seem to have money to burn. CEOs’ pay packages have leapt 54%, leaving them earning 12,000% more than registered nurses, yet these CEOs want to chop nurses’ critical health benefits and undo safe staffing agreements nurses won in negotiations three years ago. Nurses work high-risk, high-injury jobs, yet NewYork-Presbyterian has refused to agree to workplace violence protections for them. As a patient at Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian, I have benefited from the professionalism and dedication of nurses who helped me recover from two major surgeries in the past five years. It wasn’t long ago that we were all hailing nurses as our heroes. It’s time the institutions they work for recognize they deserve to be treated as such. Nurses are demanding quality care for their patients in a safe environment, and that must include quality care for the nurses. William Neff Data taken too far Staten Island: Like many people, I use ChatGPT and Gemini and appreciate how much easier and faster they’ve made certain tasks. But just like our phones and social media apps, these tools are collecting and using data we willingly provide, and that’s where concern comes in. Without asking, ChatGPT created a “Year in Review” about me. I haven’t opened it and don’t really care what it thinks; it reflects only a small fragment of who I am. Still, the fact that it was generated and presented without my consent is unsettling. This isn’t a rejection of AI, but a call for awareness. Go into it with your eyes wide open. Know what you’re opting into, what’s being done on your behalf, and how easily helpful can cross into intrusive. By the way, ChatGPT helped me write this. Gina Ottrando ...read more read less