LETTER: Silencing an outspoken woman →

By Ruth J. Heflin, PhD Leavenworth

"What happens in Kansas to an outspoken woman when she dares point out how bigoted behavior is objectionable?

She gets investigated.

At least, that’s what happened to Kansas City’s state Rep. Valdenia Winn when she dared to point out in March 2015 that a bill several representatives on the House Education Committee wanted to pass that would eliminate tuition breaks for children of undocumented immigrants was “racist, sexist, (and) fear-mongering.” Rep. Winn added an apology “to the students and parents whose lives are being hijacked by the racist bigots who support this bill.”

Read more

Barton led Witch Hunt →

A special committee has said it will meet Friday to consider a complaint brought by nine Republicans against Democratic Rep. Valdenia Winn of Kansas City, Kan., for using “inflammatory language.” Republicans should drop this matter. The only likely outcome is more negative publicity for Kansas and more bad blood among lawmakers.


Read more

Barton Attempts to Censure Lawmaker →

The Garden City Telegram

"In this so-called post-racial era in America after the 2008 election and 2012 re-election of Barack Obama as president, people abhor being called racist or even the thought that their actions are racist — even when they are.

A severe backlash is what Rep. Valdenia Winn of Wyandotte County is facing from her colleagues in the Kansas Legislature for her testifying in March against a bill to repeal a 10-year-old law, enabling some immigrants to pay in-state tuition at colleges and universities in the Sunflower State. ..."

Read more