Wright is wrong in his remarks on United Way

Ron Wright is not only wrong about United Way. The Tarrant County tax assessor-collector is also wrong to invoke the name of Adolf Hitler in disparaging the community fundraising campaign,

Wright’s choice of a hyperbolic and wildly inappropriate analogy discredits his complaint about the United Way of Tarrant County over a small amount of money that local donors intended for Planned Parenthood.

United Way has not supported Planned Parenthood since 1980, but it forwards donors’ gifts marked for that or any other outside charity.

Because United Way allows contributors to give money to any agency they choose, Wright and County Commissioner Andy Nguyen will not join in this year’s countywide $30 million charity fundraising campaign.

Wright described United Way’s forwarding of gifts to Planned Parenthood, a family planning and reproductive services agency that provides abortions, as a “stain on a very worthy organization,” and said:

“I will remind all of them that Hitler made the trains run on time.”

The Holocaust took the lives of millions of Europeans, including an estimated 6 million Jews, before and during World War II.

Nothing else is like the Holocaust or Hitler’s loaded trains of death.

The United Way sending along an average of $2,000 per year meant for the local Planned Parenthood chapter definitely is not like the Holocaust.

For many, the beauty of United Way is that donors get to choose.

Planned Parenthood is currently embroiled in a significant national controversy involving allegations that some chapters elsewhere have sold fetal tissue.

No employee has been charged with any crime.

Given the small amount of local money forwarded to Planned Parenthood, Wright’s decision seems silly.

Wright’s argument fails again when he compares the gifts to United Way forwarding donations to the Ku Klux Klan. Only 501(c)3 charities are eligible.

To be sure, Wright and Nguyen can choose any favored office charity.

Both chose specific United Way agencies, Meals on Wheels for Wright and the Salvation Army for Nguyen.

But Wright and Nguyen should not disparage a United Way campaign that supports 42 partner agencies doing so much good across Tarrant County.

Coming from a public official, Wright’s comments are not only wrong-headed but irresponsible.

All county employees may continue to choose to support United Way.

They should.

This story was originally published October 8, 2015 at 7:41 PM with the headline "Wright is wrong in his remarks on United Way."