At-risk families
I am personally being cut from SNAP benefits, and I know I’m not alone. I know other people that are being cut from Medicaid. As a single mother of three children who attend Portsmouth public schools, I see firsthand how families are being told to “tighten their belts” while our state reports billions in new revenue. This is a moral contradiction we cannot ignore.
In 2024, Virginia achieved a historic milestone of $35.1 billion in visitor spending, a 5.4% increase from the previous year, according to Gov. Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia Tourism Corp. This direct spending boosted our economy to record highs.
While we celebrate this success, we must also confront the reality that thousands of Virginians are at risk of losing health care and food assistance due to cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. The truth is, Virginia has the resources to prevent this. Families should not go without when our state is experiencing unprecedented economic growth.
I hope my state legislators, Del. Don Scott and Sen. Louise Lucas, take this into account. No family in Virginia should suffer without food or health insurance. I urge all legislators in Virginia to direct a portion of these funds to protect our most vulnerable citizens. Economic growth means little if it does not improve the lives of the people who call Virginia home.
Lakecha Matthews, Virginia Organizing, Portsmouth
Racial bigotry
When I was 5 or 6 years old, my family was returning home after a Sunday drive to Clarksville. We were about 30 miles from our home when we came upon an accident. A white man, his wife and their young daughter were standing outside their vehicle. A state trooper was gathering information and an ambulance was leaving the scene.
While I do not remember the specific details, what I do remember is my father pulling our car off the road, getting out and talking to the man, and then instructing my two older brothers and older sister who were riding in the back seat, to move over and make room for the bleeding family. When we got to Chapel Hill, my father drove them to the hospital and then drove us home.
The incident occurred in 1960, along a rural North Carolina state road in the segregated South. My parents never told me the reason my father stopped to help that family. The lessons that I learned that day were that people are people, and that when they need assistance and you can help, race shouldn’t matter.
The current occupant of the White House doesn’t seem to miss an opportunity to foment racial bigotry and prejudice. In a 2015 interview, he said his favorite book of the Bible was “2 Corinthians.” Perhaps members of the White House Faith Office should introduce him to I Corinthians 13. That’s the chapter on love.
Donnie R. Tuck, former mayor, Hampton
Afraid
Re “Town halls” (Your Views, Sept. 7): I must agree with the letter writer on her frustrations about that she wrote about Rep. Jen Kiggans not holding any town hall meetings on the Eastern Shore. Here on the Southside she’s also not held any town hall meetings, but her predecessor former Congresswoman Elaine Luria always did.
I am wondering if it’s because Kiggans is afraid that she will have to answer to her constituents’ questions on why she’s supporting the President Donald Trump’s unpopular bill the he calls “The Big Beautiful Bill” as most of her Republican cohorts are? Most voters believe it will hurt the poor and working class and that is probably why the president says most of it will go into effect after the midterm elections of 2026.
Pedro Garcia, Virginia Beach
