The city's explanations for not requiring accountability reforms in the new police union contract do not make sense ("Police contract approved in Mpls.," March 25). First, the city was concerned that if discipline measures were added to the contract, the union would take out language committing itself to diversity. How can City Hall let itself be coerced by threats like that?

Second, we are told that the way to increase accountability is not through the contract, but by making changes in the police policy manual. OK, but why haven't these changes been made already? It is almost two years since the murder of George Floyd.

Finally, look at the context. Two Minneapolis officers are in prison for killing civilians. Three more have been convicted of federal civil rights crimes. There is a new review of the killing of Terrance Franklin by five officers several years ago. A federal judge has thrown out a drug case because the officers didn't tell the truth. The fatal shooting of Amir Locke has been referred to prosecutors for possible charges. The city is paying off police misconduct civil suits every week.

Is City Hall committed to changing the police culture or not? Right now, seems like not.

John Stuart, Minneapolis

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If you have concerns about the policing in Minneapolis, I highly recommend that you watch the documentary "Women in Blue." It follows several women officers in Minneapolis during the period leading up to the election of Mayor Jacob Frey. These women were all in favor of Minneapolis hiring more women officers, knowing that women police often have more patience with suspects and resort to violence less often than men. The women were determined to be good team members, sometimes swallowing behavior from fellow officers that would not be tolerated in other workplaces. As one woman commented, women in the Minneapolis police department were viewed with sexist denigration. Another woman who had to leave the room sometimes because of raunchy jokes told by male officers. How can I, a woman, expect respectful treatment from police officers who are immersed in such an environment? How can anyone?

Nancy L. Eder, Minnetonka

So Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff has announced that he'll be leaving the district when his contract expires in June ("Graff steps down as Mpls. superintendent," March 31). Given the abuse he's been subjected to over the years by teachers, parents and students, who could blame him? I don't know if he's planned out his next move yet, but maybe he and former police Chief Medaria Arradondo could go somewhere and start their own city.

Daniel Beck, Lake Elmo

Regarding Sen. Susan Collins pledging support for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ("Collins to vote for Supreme Court pick," March 31): It's sort of sad. The senator from Maine makes national news because she's doing the right thing. Our two senators are supporting Jackson, but they aren't making national news. We take it for granted that our senators will do the right thing. We never imagine that our senators would buy into the venomous idea that nominee Jackson is a ploy of some "left-wing agenda"; that she's soft on war criminals because she was doing her assigned duty to provide due process to Guantanamo detainees; that she's "soft on child pornographers" because she was part of a committee that weighed a variety of factors before deciding on appropriate sentences. Our senators, without fanfare, did the necessary vetting of Jackson. They found her qualifications to be impeccable.

But sadly, it's come to this. If 49 senators in your GOP caucus are willing to sell their souls to the devil, but you — as a senator from a state way up in the northeast corner of this vast country — are doing what any responsible, ethical elected leader should do, is so striking that it makes national news.

It's sort of sad.

Richard Masur, Minneapolis

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In 2005, Judge Janice Rogers Brown was on President George W. Bush's shortlist to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She would have been the first Black woman ever nominated to serve as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Then-Sen. Joe Biden, on CBS' "Face the Nation," warned that if Bush nominated Brown, she would face a filibuster.

She was a daughter of sharecroppers, raised in poverty and a self-made legal star. But she was conservative. So she was unacceptable to Biden and the Democrats.

Remember this: When the Democrats said they wanted to nominate the first Black woman to the court, they really wanted to nominate the first liberal activist Black woman to the court. Had Brown not been blocked by Biden and his cronies, that glass ceiling would have been shattered long ago.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar keeps saying that it's about time for a Black woman on the Supreme Court. Senator, it would have happened 17 years ago if your party hadn't blocked it.

(And remember, Democrats love the filibuster when it benefits them!)

Monica Bartell, St. Paul

Thank you for Shari M. Danielson's insightful opinion piece, "Jada Pinkett Smith didn't need a protector" (March 30). The patriarchal belief that women need protection has long been used to justify violence. Danielson's essay reminded me of Jessie Daniel Ames, who, in 1930, founded the Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching. This group worked to dispel the long-held myth that justified lynching because it supposedly protected white women from being raped by Black men. (Of the lynchings of the previous eight years, Ames found, only 29% of those people had ever been accused of crimes against white women.) They argued that women refused any longer to be associated with or used as an excuse for the evils of lynching. (See "Revolt Against Chivalry: Jessie Daniel Ames and the Women's Campaign Against Lynching," by Jacquelyn Dowd Hall.)

Susan Everson, St. Paul

•••

Come on people; it was a slap. We get worked up when an actor loses his temper momentarily and slaps a comedian in response to a cruel joke aimed at the actor's wife —due to the look of her hair, a condition caused by a disease. Critics from all corners insist "there is no place for violence" on an award show even though those accepting the awards often receive them for behavior glorifying violence.

It was a slap. It's not as if Will Smith stabbed or shot Chris Rock. We live in a world with thousands of people being killed and millions forced to be refugees, and the news and talk shows are obsessed with a slap? We live in a country where those making up our government cannot bring themselves to limit sales of automatic weapons, a country where hundreds of people are killed every day, where mass shootings of innocent bystanders have become common but our concern about violence is focused on a slap?

Let's put this incident in context. Let's think about priorities. Let's think about the frequency of violence in our world and country. It was a slap!

Duane L. Cady, Shoreview

The story "40 dishes to reflect Minnesota's changing palates" (March 31) obviously omitted many, many favorite dishes enjoyed by Minnesotans. However, one glaring omission came to mind as I perused the article. How could the White Castle slider be left off the list? Whether it's noon time, supper time or late night, early morning need-a-snack time, nothing serves the palate better than a White Castle burger. Sliders have created a love/hate relationship among those who consider their tastiness. Simply said, you hate 'em or you love 'em. For those in the latter group, nothing pleases the palate more than three sliders with mustard, a sack of fries and a shake.

If nothing else, the White Castle burger certainly deserves to be No. 41 on the Star Tribune's "palate pleasing" list.

George Larson, Brooklyn Park

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