Separate care services from law enforcement
The opening of Atlanta’s diversion center is a shift toward reducing arrests for people facing mental health challenges. However, placing it in a former detention center reflects the city’s continued reliance on carceral spaces rather than creating environments separate from punitive institutions.
The Policing Alternatives & Diversion Initiative’s role in the center also raises concerns about a “soft cop” approach that might still link marginalized people to law enforcement rather than building community-led support networks.
As a community care worker, I’ve witnessed how transformative healing can be when people are empowered with direct access to resources within their communities. To achieve meaningful change, Atlanta must sever the ties between care services and the police. By investing in empowering, noncarceral spaces, we can work toward a vision where healing, rather than control, is at the center of care.
MARA BETHEL, ATLANTA
Abortion restrictions have long-term consequences
Denying women access to abortion not only violates their sense of autonomy but also has severe consequences for child development. It’s essential to examine what happens to the children of mothers who are denied access to abortion. Maternal stress during unwanted pregnancies can increase the risk of negative psychosocial development and mental well-being from birth through adulthood.
MORGAN EBERT, KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY STUDENT
The people spoke. Democracy won.
Regardless of how you voted in the presidential election, you won. That’s because democracy won. Both sides claimed this election was important for democracy. It wasn’t a quirk in the Electoral College system causing the winner to lose the popular vote but still get elected. President-elect Donald Trump won almost 5 million more popular votes than Vice President Kamala Harris. Both sides should accept that the people have spoken. Our system worked regardless of how the “other half” of Americans voted. Though not everyone agrees, my hope is that Americans can now come together and look to the future. Our system worked.
DANIEL F. KIRK, KENNESAW
Political differences must not divide
Deception and hate prevailed. Going forward, for us not to see our friends and family who chose this man in a different light, we must make a determined effort to see the same humanity in these people as ourselves — flawed and imperfect creatures.
If we choose to reach for our lesser angels when viewing our fellow citizens, then we will have not only been defeated by this man in the political arena but also in our greater spiritual battle between light and darkness.
ROBERT FORDHAM, JONESBORO
Divided country needs healing
The election is over. Someone won, and someone lost. Is the United States still united, or is our “One Nation under God, indivisible” irrevocably broken? America’s next challenge is for its new president to pick up the shattered hopes of millions of unhappy citizens and to work tirelessly to heal our divided country.
As a “United” States of America, we must never again put our citizens through years of distrust in our country’s leadership. Our forefathers never conceived that citizen politicians simply serving their country would, in the future, become elitists seeking the power of the presidency, America’s most challenging test of leadership,
America is a symbol of hope to the world. For America to flourish, its citizens must be united in their belief in our country. We must get past our partisan ideologies and elect visionary statesmen whose proven leadership skills speak well of their character and capabilities. We owe it to ourselves and to our nation to find a way.
JC STULL, ATLANTA
