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LETTERS

Good reason for
workers to worry

Yes, as Edward Field notes, in spite of good times, Midwesterners remain susceptible to talk of hard times (see Illinois Issues, November 1996, page 27).

Worker Displacement During the Mid-1990s (U.S. Department of Labor, October 29, 1996) offers an explanation. Worker displacement occurred very nearly as often in the mid-'90s as it did in the early '90s, even though the earlier period included a recession and the later period was marked by strong employment growth. A strong economy — and Illinois' has been strong for the last four years adding right at 300,000 jobs — doesn't preclude displacement.

The same publication shows displacement disproportionately affects older workers, minorities, women and manufacturing workers. Many of us fall into one, or more, of those categories.

It is, therefore, entirely understandable that Midwesterners remain susceptible to talk of hard times.

John Hamilton
Springfield

Agent of death
not mentioned

Local organizations are establishing a series of stone markers across central Illinois (see Illinois Issues, November 1996, page 12). Their purpose is to commemorate the "Illinois portion of the Trail of Death, the 1838 forced march of the Potawatomi Indians from their home in northern Indiana to resettlement in Kansas.... A drought and the heat of Illinois' unbroken prairie proved fatal to almost 50 of the 850 Potawatomi who were rounded up and forced to leave their homes that September."

Curiously elided by the passive construction (i.e., "were forced") and the equally evasive phrase "forced march" was any mention of the agent who forced the resettlement of the Potawatomi and caused so many of them to die along the way. Were it not for that contribution, readers might have been spared Illinois Issues' silly reminder of this monumentally misprized "tragic and little-known piece of Illinois' history."

David Peterson
Evergreen Park

Coming soon in Illinois Issues • The global city • Profile of Richard Durbin • In defense of the property tax

36 / January 1997 Illinois Issues