Feedback From Faraway Friends
Dear Editor,
A year ago, we wrote a “Letter From a Friend” that you posted online and in your print edition (letter received Feb 10, 2025). We were alarmed by the first few weeks of the 47th administration and saddened every day during our long stay as things went from bad to worse. Much has happened since then and none of it is good – what we see from this side of the world’s longest unprotected border is appalling. How can the country we have loved so much sink so low?
We would love to return to Austin this winter, but we are boycotting the U.S. – not because of the tariffs but rather to show our disapproval of the current autocratic regime. Besides, ICE and CBP would undoubtedly not like “our kind” and might well “lock us up.” We see the cruelty and injustice that continues in Minneapolis and across your country. We are fearful what might befall we longtime Canadian visitors.
Your president has unleashed the chaos we warned you about and it’s worse than expected. International laws, rules, conventions, treaties and alliances carry no weight. Kindness and empathy are seen as weaknesses; belligerence and bullying are seen as strength. Canada will never be a 51st state, nor will Greenland, Panama, or Venezuela. And NATO will not bow to the Lyin’ King. The recent Davos meeting of the WEF showed the world who the adults are in the room. Much shame on your babbling 47th president. Isn’t it about time to impeach and convict?
You are rapidly losing your democracy and the rule of law. It will be hard to get that back. Repairing the damage done to your education, health care, environment, justice, infrastructure, international relations, etc. will not be easy – even with the expected changes in the coming midterms. But, you put a man on the moon, so surely getting rid of a dangerously demented president cannot be that difficult! You need to do it, and you need to do it soon. People all over the world will support you – but only Americans can solve this American problem.
We want to return to Austin. We miss our friends. We miss the music! But only you can stop Donald Trump. Until you do, we’re staying away.
Reg Quinton & Kate Graham
About Walkouts
Dear Editor,
As an Austin ISD parent, I’ve watched recent student walkouts – including protests related to immigration enforcement – with respect. Student civic engagement matters. Free expression matters. Schools should protect students’ rights to speak on political issues that affect their lives.
But not all walkouts are the same, and school districts have a responsibility to recognize the difference.
Last year at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, an official district investigation found that a student had been harmed by the actions of a campus leader. That finding is a matter of public record. In the aftermath, students later organized a walkout in support of that same leader. The district allowed the protest to proceed without addressing the documented harm that had already occurred.
That raises a difficult but necessary question: When are student walkouts an exercise of free speech – and when does a school have an ethical duty to intervene?
Political protests challenge systems of power. Walkouts that defend institutional authority figures are fundamentally different. In those situations, students may not have full access to the facts, and the risk of retraumatizing harmed students is real. Allowing such protests without context or safeguards sends a troubling message about whose voices matter most.
I’m not suggesting schools should police political beliefs. But when a walkout centers on rehabilitating adults who have been found to cause harm – rather than challenging injustice – districts have a duty to pause, assess, and protect students who may be impacted.
Free expression and student safety are not opposing values. Our schools should be capable of holding both.
AISD Parent Angela Strickland
This article appears in February 13 • 2026.
A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.