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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, MARCH 19-25, 2021 13
letters & comments oped
To The Editor:
I am beginning to write
an Op-Ed article about what I
personally learned about the
social problem of Sexual Harassment
and how it hurts
and damages the victims and
suvivors of it. When I was a
25 year-old graduate student I
was sexually harassed for six
months by a female college
professor who had the power
to determine whether or not I
would receive my degree. My
intention in writing this Op-
Ed article is to be helpful and
to increase understanding,
support, empathy, and compassion
for the victims and survivors.
I want them to take all
of the power and control away
from the predators so that
they no longer are hurting and
abusing them. One thing that I
want them to do is to fully and
totally realize that they did not
do anything to bring about or
to encourage this predatory
behavior so that they do not
engage in any “self-blame.”
It has taken me forty years
to realize this relative to my
own case.
It fi nally ended for me when
the professor who I was serving
as a teaching assistant for
confronted my harasser and
told her that she would report
her to the university authorities
if she did not stop it immediately.
That she did this was a surprise
to the entire university
community because “Debbie”
was a lesbian who was widelyregarded
as being a “manhater”
and “male-basher”.
Having sat in on many of her
excellent classroom lectures,
I could see how people could
have gotten this impression.
After it ended, some other
graduate students told me that
Debbie had told them in confi -
dence that she helped me because
I was the only male in
the academic department of
about 80 males who she actually
liked as a human being
because I was “kind” to people.
This experience taught
me something about why we
should not be quick to stereotype
and judge others.
P.S. By way of background,
I am a retired college professor
of Sociology, Social Work,
and Psychology who taught
at West Virginia University,
Slippery Rock University, and
Keuka College.
I also spent fi ve years
working as a New York Statelicensed
masters-degree level
therapist and counselor working
in the fi elds of Alcoholism,
Drug Addiction, Mental
Health/Illness, and Marriage
and Family Therapy.
NOTE: This article is dedicated
in loving memory of and
to my best friend–Ann Burnett-
Hidd.
LET US HEAR FROM YOU
Letters to the editor are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed care
of this newspaper to Laura Guerriero, Publisher, the Bronx Times Reporter, 3604 E.
Tremont Ave., Bronx, NY 10465, or e-mail to bronxtimes@cnglocal.com.
All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and with a verifi -
able address and telephone number included.
Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the name
will be published or withheld upon request.
No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves the
right to edit all submissions.
BY ABAGAIL MARTIN
The MTA recently announced
it would delay increasing
transit fares for “several”
months. According to
MTA Chairman Pat Foye, this
decision was made because
“people are suffering and cannot
shoulder even a modest
fare increase right now.”
Of course, Foye is correct–
those who rely on the subway,
or on the MTA’s buses and
Access-A-Ride, cannot afford
an increase in their daily expenses.
With hundreds of thousands
of New Yorkers still out
of work, and with economic
insecurity at its highest levels
in recent memory, now is not
the time to ask those who depend
on public transportation
to pay more.
But “several months” from
now also won’t be the time.
Later this year, New Yorkers
will still be struggling, as they
were long before the COVID
pandemic. We should not be
asking New York families
and those on fi xed incomes to
shore up the MTA’s fi nances,
when there are more practical
and more equitable ways
to do so. Instead, the federal
government must continue to
provide additional funding for
the MTA, and our state’s ultrawealthy
must pay their fair
share.
Elections have consequences,
and thankfully, New
York’s future looks a little bit
more hopeful than it did before
November. One of the reasons
countless New Yorkers
campaigned so hard for Democrats
to gain control of the
White House and Senate was
to make sure the federal government
would invest in the
things we care about, such as
public transportation. One of
the reasons our party worked
so hard to gain a supermajority
in the New York State Senate
was to make sure we could
enact progressive legislation
at the state level.
Now that Congress has allocated
billions to help the
MTA address its fi scal challenges,
and will likely allocate
more, the ball is now in
the state legislature’s court.
If the Assembly and State Senate
can ensure the MTA has
the funding it needs, the MTA
can take fare increases off the
table, this year and into the future.
Here are the facts: New
York City has more billionaires
than any other city in
the world and more than almost
every country in the
world. The reason New York
attracts so many extremely
wealthy people is because New
York works so well for them.
During the pandemic, for instance,
New York City billionaires
saw their net wealth
increase by over $80 billion–
nearly fi ve times the annual
operating budget of the MTA.
Despite fears last year that the
wealthy would permanently
abandon New York, there
has been no exodus, despite
COVID.
By contrast, this pandemic
has laid bare how diffi cult life
can be for those who live paycheck
to paycheck, and who
are one life catastrophe from
fi nancial ruin. The thousands
of New Yorkers who work in
hospitality, in the arts, and in
other industries hit particularly
hard by COVID need all
the assistance New York can
give them as we claw our way
back. As the unemployed and
underemployed struggle to get
back on their feet, we need to
fi nd every avenue to give them
a helping hand, and not penalize
them for the state’s fi nancial
woes.
Like all of us, the wealthiest
New Yorkers want their
City to bounce back. This
is their opportunity to help
make it happen.
Abigail Martin is a social
worker and an adjunct professor
at the Columbia University
School of Social Work and a
candidate for City Council in
City Council District 11. Her
website is abigail4thebronx.
com.
Dear esteem elected leaders,
Thank you for the tremendous
sacrifi ces you make on
behalf of your respective constituents
and for all the people
of our cities and state. You are
truly needed and valued public
servants. God bless you and
yours.
NOW
Please, please do not make
mistakes that would cause irreparable
harm to our system
of government. Our constitution
is the most powerful protection
for accusers and the
accused. Don’t you dare not follow
it with the case at hand.
It is illegal to remove or
force resignation of duly
elected offi cials without DUE
PROCESS. It’s illegal. It’s stupid.
It’s uncivilized. It’s harmful
to all of us. You all know it.
Don’t do it.
There are allegations
lodged against the governor.
Please allow a DUE PROCESS
so that you wouldn’t deny him
his innocence until proven
guilty protection. You do not
remove duly elected offi cials
based solely on allegations and
personal feelings. You can’t
do it. And it shouldn’t be attempted.
Not a single one of you have
the complete facts to make an
informed opinion. Not one!
We are watching and listening
as constituents as these
situations unfold. Thank you
again!
https://parkchestertimes.
com/innocent-until-provenguilty
Don’t Fix the MTA’s Budget
Problems Off the Backs of
Those Who Can Least Afford It
/parkchestertimes
/parkchestertimes
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