Face masks have become a political game, and many in Fort Worth don’t like playing

June 30, 2020 5:00 AM

FILE - In this June 1, 2020, file photo, Gavin Bollmer, left, and his buddy, Austin LaFountain, wear Globe Life Field masks as they tour the home of the Texas Rangers baseball team in Arlington, Texas. Many organizations are trying to bridge the budget gap from the coronovirus through enhanced sponsorship sales, such as temporary billboards that could be stretched over unsold sections of seats. Teams and leagues are selling branded face masks and other personal protective equipment. Almost all of them are trying to engage fans in new and creative ways. It won’t come close to making up the budget shortfall, but the hope is to survive long enough for sports to return to normal. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) LM Otero AP

They won’t get my business

My family and I will not patronize businesses in Colleyville now that it’s defying the Tarrant County public mask order. (June 26, 7A, “Colleyville won’t enforce county’s mask requirement”) I would expect most Dallas-Fort Worth area residents to take the same approach, given Colleyville’s total disregard for public health.

- Larry Anderson, Flower Mound

And when the beds run out?

It’s beyond me why Gov. Greg Abbott refuses to require every Texan to wear a face mask, despite the state having a huge spike in coronavirus cases. He apparently doesn’t care that Texans are being banned from traveling to the states where numbers are falling.

Abbott seems unconcerned about how many people get the virus, as long as there are enough hospital beds.

- Sharon Austry, Fort Worth

My face, my choice

Making it mandatory to wear a mask after all this time is just playing politics. My family hasn’t worn masks this whole time. This is not a law; it has not gone through proper channels. It should be up to people if they want to wear masks.

Who are you and County Judge Glen Whitley to say we must? (June 28, 1A, “Tarrant County businesses following mask rules”) This isn’t a dictatorship. Good job hurting more businesses.

- Damon Walker, Fort Worth

Don’t forget this moment

Gov. Greg Abbott continues to tell us that ample hospital beds are available as the COVID-19 virus spreads throughout Texas. The number of hospitalizations increase each day, and we can expect the number of deaths to increase as well.

I hope senior citizens remember this in November. It’s obvious who puts the wishes of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party above seniors’ health.

- Kenneth Bucher, North Richland Hills

Systemic racism? Not here

Non-white minorities coming to this country must be either blind or misinformed. Why would any minority immigrant come to a country run by these terrible, bigoted white people?

We came here more than 30 years ago, and my wife, her white mother and her Black father seem blind to systemic racism. When things don’t go my wife’s way or something goes wrong, she insists on taking personal responsibility rather than blaming it on racism.

Could it be that we are not a racist, bigoted country but a country of good people?

- Ricardo Schulz, Fort Worth

Allen took a step too far

Once again, Cynthia M. Allen’s focus on abortion got in the way of a valid point. (June 26, 15A, “Black lives matter, and that includes those lost to abortion”)

Yes, Black lives do matter, and that should have been the focus of her commentary. To suggest Planned Parenthood is discriminatory and racist is a bridge too far.

Few organizations in this country have done more for the health care of women of color. Allen knows full well that Planned Parenthood primarily provides health care support for poor women, particularly Black women.

- Elizabeth Ray, Fort Worth