Letters To The Editor

WELFARE

Some book, some author

After rending your article about Chuck Burbank and his book I was simultaneously overwhelmed by two opposing reactions. One was to lose my breakfast and the other was to break out in raucous laughter.

I have spent 31 years in various capacities within human services, 16 of them in this community, and I have not seen what Burbank claims to have seen. I might also add that I have never heard of Chuck Burbank.

Seems to me that pounding away at a laptop, late at night, fueled by pots of coffee, absent a college degree or writing experience is an ideal context for venting one’s spleen when one has failed to fuel experience by education, research or even much of a work history. Anyone can compile a book based on a series of half-baked anecdotes which support baseless stereotypes. It looks like Burbank has done precisely that.

What is frightening is that his intended audience seems to be his church and patrons of Christian book stores. If he finds fertile ground there, the rest of us God loving people are doomed only to have to work harder to support and build greater capacities to assist those who may be poor in spirits. (Has Burbank read the Beatitudes lately?)

Actually, I am glad The Spokesman-Review ran this story. It simply served to expose the charlatanism which still exists among us. Roy R. Harrington Mead

Notions reveal misplaced person

Re: Chuck Burbank’s “Harsh confessions.”

Burbank’s book, “Welfare and the Ideology of Power: The Confessions of a Welfare Worker,” the topic of a news article in the July 4 Spokesman-Review, did not deserve valuable newspaper space.

Burbank is not part of the solution, he’s part of the problem. He discredits the many social workers who actually do enjoy helping the people they serve.

I do not know Burbank but his concept of the social worker’s role in society is a very uneducated one. Burbank admits that he has no college education and that he got a job as a social worker when he went in to apply for food stamps.

Did the social worker who helped Burbank treat him like one of the stereotype people Burbank describes in his book? Or did that person try to give him some dignity and help him help himself?

Not all welfare recipients are “oversexed and conniving.” Some of us needed help recovering from marriages to losers who used and abused us. While I agree that welfare, as it is now, is not the perfect answer, it can work for those who want it to without becoming a permanent crutch.

Some of us grow up to become people who appreciate the help they receive and give back to help others!

I urge Burbank to grow up and to please change jobs. He does not belong in a social work position when he cannot see past the stereotype and see the pain. Cyndi J. Ebert Osburn, Idaho

Why highlight divisive drivel?

Where was editor Chris Peck when “Harsh confessions” was placed on the front page of the July 4 Spokesman-Review?

We want to think we’re sitting down to read a responsibly written piece of journalism, something that will broaden or enhance our thinking. To our disappointment, we found nothing more than a story hardly worth the time and energy it took to write it.

Who the hell is Chuck Burbank and why does the Review consider his jaded and inflammatory opinions front page news? With neo-Nazis beating their racist chests in our neighborhood, one would think this would be a time to promote tolerance and compassion for the disenfranchised. Instead, you’ve chosen to give credibility to an uneducated voice that spews generalized blame, harsh judgment and a small-minded perspective. And this guy calls himself a Christian! Give us a break.

We all know that “conniving” people exist, not only in lower socioeconomic populations but just as well, if not more, among the ranks of the wealthy. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where deceit and dishonesty have become an insidious part of every day survival. We tend to overlook and even encourage this behavior in many areas of life.

To perpetuate the stereotyping of welfare recipients as a “species of animal, fulfilling their breeding instincts with no sense of responsibility or shame” can only be divisive and serve to fuel the flames of race and class hatred.

What was your point in the placement of this article and how can this possibly serve our community? Lisa and Kerry Whitsitt Spokane

Story showed book for what it is

Thank you for the elucidating article on local author C.W. Burbank and his initial effort, “Welfare and the Ideology of Power.” I bought his book and am struggling to work my way through it.

Usually, books which aim to proselytize, or persuade the unpersuaded, bring the reader along in a logical progression toward the author’s conclusion(s). What makes Burbanks’s book, for me, a difficult read is that he jumps around from point to point, seldom establishes a correlation between his alleged facts and his conclusions about those alleged facts, and resorts to the safety of religion and politics (both areas of personal faith, which no infidel can assail).

The article, “Harsh confessions” (July 4), reveals that Burbank “wrote the book as a wake-up call to fellow churchgoers.” As suspected, he literally was preaching to the choir. If you don’t approach his work already convinced, conservative and fundamentalist, you, too, might find it more than a little confusing.

Thank you, staff writer Jonathan Martin, for a fair and balanced article. Clay G. Vails Spokane

Burbank book a real piece of work

I was appalled when I read staff writer Jonathan Martin’s article describing welfare worker Chuck Burbank’s book, “Welfare and the Ideology of Power: Confessions of a Welfare Worker.” I have not seen such acrimony and viciousness for some time.

The half truths Burbank has written and the blatant attempt to scapegoat welfare recipients as a class serve only to further divide our society. Then to read that he is a Christian conservative who prays every day really put the icing on the cake. That really made me want to rush out and attend services! I’m sure Jesus, who preached love and charity, is very pleased with his efforts - not!

Lastly, Burbank is quoted as having said his descriptions of his clients are harsh because he “really loves them.” That being the case, one wonders how he would describe those he dislikes and is really angry about. Roger Erdman Spokane

OTHER TOPICS

What I said was `many constituents’

Ken Pelo and Val Smith, in their letter of July 8, indicated that I presumed that Democrats support Rep. George Nethercutt. I said no such thing. I stated that, on the question of his seeking a fourth term, despite his commitment not to do so, many of his constituents thought he was doing a good job and that he should run again. They were worried about the alternative - a novice, inexperienced congressman with no seniority who might not support their legislative needs and programs.

In my last sentence, I said that as a “party line Democrat,” I would support the Democratic candidate who would oppose him.

So far, no Democrat has come forward with plans to run. Perhaps Pelo will. If he does, I will support him. Robert D. Dellwo Spokane

Something obviously missing at Kaiser

Re: “Kaiser hit with fines” (July 7). It sounds like Philip C. Autio had his hands and will to live ripped away as a result of one of Kaiser’s new time-saving work rules. The motive Autio’s supervisor must have had to train him to only partially separate rolls while cleaning them would have been to save the company the time it takes to fully open and then close the rolls.

Hauling one last load of scrap through the remelt department during shift change led to Judy Newton’s death in 1996. Perhaps a similar time-saving plan led to the disastrous explosion at Kaiser’s Gramercy Plant.

Without Steelworker safety personnel in the Trentwood and Mead plants to monitor practices, workers and the whole community are at risk. Ron A. Hansen Spokane

It’s wrong to single out LC students

As a third-generation Lewis and Clark High School graduate, I’m appalled by the July 2 front page article about the busted kegger attended by LC students. Had any other school’s students been involved, there’s a good chance the public would have never been informed.

I know for a fact another Spokane high school kegger, a week before LC’s, was also busted in Pend Oreille County. However, unlike with LC’s, The Spokesman-Review never published any articles regarding its nature or that of any of the students involved. If it was your attempt to tarnish the reputation of a school, show the lack of morals held by LC students or simply pick on one school, I hope Spokane people are smarter than your writers. Your articles were a pathetic attempt to cause the demise of a school known for its strong academic and diverse reputation. You mocked many of the parents whose students were involved and made this entire event into a three-ring circus.

Whether or not the students’ choices were correct, it’s apparent you lack all consideration for them, their parents and Lewis and Clark. They are humans and, like all others, make mistakes. You can’t tell me that any of you never made the same choice to attend a kegger; maybe you were just lucky it was never busted or maybe your hometown paper had more discretion. Mollie E. Hannes Spokane