Highly offensive

The City Council had its own Donald Trump moment last night, but instead of the subject being what kind of citizens immigrate from Mexico to the United States it was the type of young people who live in Kyle.

This came to the fore in an agenda item designed to continue for another three years the city’s curfew for those Kyle residents who are 16-years-old or younger.

Now I have nothing whatsoever against curfews although I wish someone had asked for statistics to prove the Kyle curfew has had the effect it was intended to have. No statistics were requested by any council member and, even more interestingly, no statistics were offered by the city’s staff. So there’s that.

My problem was with the wording of last night’s resolution, which began "Whereas persons under the age of seventeen are particularly susceptible by their lack of maturity and experience to participate in unlawful and gang-related activities." I know, it’s a personal thing, but I find this wording to be terribly offensive and bigoted, just as I find all generalities about particular groups to be offensive and bigoted.

To get back to the Trump point, an hour and 40 minutes before the council agreed to this offensive language, it saluted those youths who participate in Kyle Area Youth Advisory Council. I guess what the council means by all this is that those KAYAC members can do good works even though they "are particularly susceptible by their lack of maturity and experience to participate in unlawful and gang-related activities."

Or, as Trump said, "some, I assume, are good people."