Letter: Act now to ensure freedom for all

<p><strong>To the editor:</strong></p><p>It is quite clear that the Republican Party is terrified of the growing political strength of minority groups. Majority groups are not monolithic, but in general they trend toward the principles and practices of the Democratic Party, which is why Republican legislatures across the country are frantically moving to restrict their access to the polls.</p><p>By their actions, Republicans are killing their own future. Their efforts to restrict minority people from voting is, at best, a stop-gap measure, comparable to the Dutch boy who put his finger in a hole in the dike. The only real chance for the future success of the Republican party is to engage with minority people and begin to actively address their goals and demands.</p><p>Through their votes and political activity, minorities can move the country ever closer to the centuries long dream of equality and freedom for all, or they can allow the Republican Party to shut them down. A failure to act now will set back the struggle for civil rights by decades and put the country into a retrograde movement away from the cherished goals of freedom, equality and justice for all.</p><p><p><strong>Jim Curry</strong></p><p><p><strong>Franklin</strong></p>