Letters to the Editor | May 19, 2025

During a visit to Philadelphia this year, I noticed an extra Rocky statue atop the famous Art Museum steps. After some research, I discovered that Sylvester Stallone lent it to the city for RockyFest in December. I wondered why it remained there — perhaps purely out of the city’s love for the character. Stallone has said the new statue stands for the bond between Rocky and Philadelphians. The original once sat atop the stairs, too, before moving to the bottom permanently over concerns that it wasn’t real art. Though some still argue a fictional character shouldn’t be glorified, millions of visitors continue to make a pilgrimage to the bronze figure, often without ever entering the museum. The original piece will likely stay at the bottom of the stairs, and though it may not be considered high art, it unquestionably remains an artistic pop culture icon of the city.

Brooke Bean, West Chester, [email protected]

Thanks to Inquirer reporters Julia Terruso and Katie Bernard for their article about Sen. John Fetterman being wooed by the right-wing Club for Growth to support the GOP tax cuts for the wealthy and drastic cuts for those on Medicaid and food stamps. Although Fetterman claims he will never vote for the bill, many who voted for him now have doubts about him being the spokesperson for everyday working people. I haven’t lost faith in Fetterman, but it’s time he used his notoriety and big voice to highlight what a rotten deal for the working class the Republican budget is: Get a pittance for a tax cut (under $300 for someone making less than $50,000) in exchange for losing valuable health insurance for the working poor, decent healthcare for the sick elderly and those with disability, and food from your table. Maybe Fetterman won’t get invited to Mar-a-Lago anymore if he speaks up, but he will be welcomed among Pennsylvanians — including the three million who need Medicaid, and the two million who need food stamps.

Tom Volkert, Philadelphia

The Trump administration and its acolytes, cabinet members, many corporate leaders, and far too many others condemn diversity, equity, and inclusion programs as the root of many evils. Primarily, they claim the policy to be antagonistic to meritocracy, where the best among us (according to some universal criteria?) will naturally rise to the top in service to democracy and capitalism for the benefit of all.

Let’s test the theory with some other approaches. Let us abolish inheritance — let the next generation start their race to the top without the head start provided by their ancestors. At the same time, how about prohibiting nepotism in job hiring, so no child gets a plush job at an exorbitant salary simply because of the accident of parentage? Those two changes might, over a few generations, put everyone on a more equal footing at birth and reduce the need for DEI programs. Perhaps we can expect the endorsement of this or a similar approach from the five Trump kids and the 11 (estimated) Musk children. After all, what have any of these children done to deserve their unearned head starts? Maybe it can be retroactive, and we can have a claw back for Donald Trump and Elon Musk, for that matter.

Stephen Ulan, Wynnewood

Given its mission of improving children’s health, it is impossible to understand why Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia proposes to build a 1,004-car garage in Grays Ferry, one of the poorest and most polluted areas of the city. Asthma, which is aggravated by air pollution, is a major cause of student absenteeism in public schools, and CHOP, of all our healthcare institutions, ought to respect the need for aggressive action to remove asthma triggers. Instead of the garage, which will cost millions for land and construction, CHOP could provide all employees with SEPTA passes, not only as a gesture of environmental justice but also to help our struggling mass transit system boost ridership and increase revenues. CHOP can become a good neighbor by turning a misstep into a victory for children’s health and the environment.

Debra Weiner, Quakertown

When America broke free from colonial rule and the monarchy of Great Britain, our Founding Fathers established a new nation that would be ruled by laws, and not by kings. They were extremely careful to ensure the position of president would not become a de facto monarch, and that the president would be limited in his powers — dependent upon the Congress to pass laws and approve funding, and upon the courts to determine what is legal and illegal in our federal government. This nation of laws continues today, almost 250 years later, as a shining city upon the hill, as President Ronald Reagan once proclaimed.

And yet, the current president and his administration are trying to tear it all down. They want to unilaterally wipe away the Constitution’s explicit guarantee that anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. They want to fire thousands of federal workers and eliminate their agencies without any due process or congressional approval, violating well-established laws approved by Congress and past presidents to keep politics out of federal service. These are the acts of blind and selfish tyrants who want to crown an authoritarian king — not of leaders who believe in democracy, the rule of law, and our Constitution. Americans, it’s time to stand up and act. Do not let Donald Trump or anyone else get away with ending our democracy and ignoring our laws and Constitution.

Michael Homans, Wayne

The Alien Enemies Act has been used in times of war, but Donald Trump wants to invoke it during peacetime. He claims America is under invasion by undocumented immigrants, yet boasts that such incursions are down by 99.9%. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed he can deport legal residents if he has reasonable grounds to believe they pose serious potential adverse consequences to foreign policy. But where is the evidence that such consequences exist? Stephen Miller said that the administration is looking for ways to suspend habeas corpus in deportation cases, and the White House is already ignoring court rulings.

What was initially touted as a plan to deport violent criminal immigrants has turned into a farce where legal residents, undocumented immigrants who have lived here for decades, and even American citizens have been deported. Graduate students here on visas have been detained for expressing views critical of Israel. And Trump wants to do away with temporary protected status for Venezuelans and other groups. He is planning to deport people without any due process to essentially life sentences in prison to countries like El Salvador. What Trump is doing is some kind of twisted form of ethnic cleansing of people of color, while recently granting refugee status to white Afrikaners.

George Magakis Jr., Norristown

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