Feedback: September 25, 2026

Luxury of Forgetting

Dear Editor,

I’m a white Austin resident, and ICE is kidnapping and torturing people for my supposed benefit. It’s the second ethnic cleansing campaign I’ve been the “beneficiary” of – the first was Austin’s real estate boom that drove out all the poor, nonwhite families in my neighborhood, that pushed the same immigrants being rounded up today further and further from the city center as Downtown became a playground for the superrich. But that was an “unfortunate side effect of growth,” and this newest assault on immigrants is much more gleefully overt. Even still, I get the luxury of forgetting about it every day somebody isn’t shot in my neighborhood. Then I perk up, read some headlines, confirm that my opinion – that this is unjustifiable and cruel and heinous and evil – is still correct, and – satisfied that I’ve done all that’s expected of me as a responsible citizen – I stop thinking about ICE until the next tragedy. But I bet Wilber Garcés Pérez had been thinking about ICE. He probably thought about ICE every morning and all day at work and every night on his way home. Democratic electeds say things like “obviously we need border security, but this is going way too far.” It’s not obvious to me. Wilber Garcés Pérez seems like a good guy. Honestly I could care less if he isn’t a good guy. He should already have been a U.S. citizen. But at the same time, I can’t keep throwing my hands up and leaving it to the politicians. I’m going to start thinking more actively every day about how to reach a future in which human life is treated with respect, and start really wrestling with what it’s going to require of me. If you want to do that as well, make this your reason.

Isaac Metcalf

True Texas Patriot

Dear Editor,

Sen. John Cornyn can be our next Texas hero.

By endorsing Rep. James Talarico for senator, he would restore political dignity, decency and sanity to the state.

Not supporting scandal-ridden Ken Paxton is a good first step. Not attending the midterm Republican “convention” in Dallas is a good second. But it’s not enough.

Cornyn must appear to be as principled and brave as Sam Houston when, as governor, he urged Texas not to support Southern secession and later would not swear an oath to the Confederacy. “I refuse . . . to pander to the malice of my enemies,” Houston said. Cornyn can honor this true Texas patriot by personifying his defiance.

Cornyn must reignite values exemplified by Pres. Lyndon Johnson. The Great Society, which gave all Americans a much better chance to succeed no matter their skin color or economic status, arose from Johnson’s Texas roots.

Just as Johnson lost the South for the Democrats, Cornyn may lose MAGA support.
But by campaigning with Talarico, Cornyn can rekindle hope for a Texas that glorifies its true heroes.

Barbara Chiarello