I am an African American man and I just moved back to this area. I was upset to see Councilwoman Amy Brown and Councilwoman Burnette Wilson on a picture in your newspaper in front of the Old County Courthouse with a smile on their faces to support a building that held the first succession meeting before the Civil War. I don’t think that they should support that building.
Tony Jones,
Ruby
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Letter had ‘no useful purpose’
I haven’t lost my temper for many years, nor do I get angry, since it is counter-productive and serves no useful purpose except to harm one’s self. However, when I read Mr. Tom Jones’ recent “Letter To The Editor,” I saw stars!
Mr. Jones’ comments tend to negate all the strives made by African-Americans over the pasty forty plus years. I don’t think Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, the four Civil Rights Workers who were murdered in Mississippi in the 1960s, and many more both black and white would appreciate his comments. Not too long ago women like Amy Brown and Runette Wilson would not have been allowed to vote, much less have been considered for public office. Now black people all over this country hold public office and positions of power. A black man, Sen. Barack Obama, is running for the highest office in the land.
I hope Mr. Jones read the article written about Central High School Principal, J. R. Green, who recently spoke at a Martin Luther King celebration. Take his words to heart and don’t continue to perpetuate negative words and actions against your own race.
By the way, I hope that some day the words African-American will be dropped from our language and all citizens of this country, regardless of race, will simply be known as Americans.
God created all of us to be equal, regardless of race or religion. Man is the one who deemed otherwise.
Edith S. Creasey,
Chesterfield
2 comments:
I agree that we should all be called Americans, but it was black people who started calling themselves african americans, so you can blame only them for not wanting to be called americans. you should put blame where it belongs, instead of turning blame to the wrong place. The white people of america are not responsible for everything.
I would have to view your comments Semper Fi from a different angle. First, concerning your last line, I believe "all people of America" are responsible. We may not be personally "guilty" of anything, but we're all "responsible" for everything.
I believe my generation and specifically "me" to be very fortunate to have lived in an era where racial divide and understanding made great strides. I have been a benefactor of the desegregation policies that led my generation being exposed to other races and specifically blacks.
My early years were segregated and I grew up in a white world. In junior high school that all changed. Black students were brought into our neighborhood schools and then I was later sent to a school in what was then refered to as a black area.
I consider this to have been one of greatest gifts I could have been given. I became good friends with so many black students and I learned so much from that experience.
Your comment about blaming "them" for calling themselves by a particular name is about as unfair as blaming all white people for anything you want to blame them for. Regardless of race, we are all unique unto ourselves.
We, regardless of skin color or race, are essentially the same with the same wants, desires, and dreams. Our circumstance, however, can be vastly different. While history has it's place and importance, the relevence is in what we have have in our hearts for other people and what we're willing to do to change the lives of others in a positive way.
When we finally learn to to eliminate labels in an effort to define a particlar group of people,"we" will have won a tremendous victory towards the enrichment of our lives.
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