Editor: The serpent has raised his evil head and has injected his poisonous venom into the heart and the soul of the black citizens of the Zephyrhills community.
Gina King may have won the war, but the battle is not over. During past City Council meetings everyone was saying that the renaming of Sixth Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue was not a black or white issue. The majority has ruled over the minority and their true colors are evident.
The minorities in this community are realistic with a lot of hope. We will stand tall to confront the powers of destruction. We will look evil in the eye and name it as Jesus did. we will continue to cultivate the hope, the promise and the dream that Dr. King envisioned for all people.
You can attempt to take away a street name, but we will not lose sight of that dream. We have come too far, and we will not go to the back of anyone's bus ever again. You may have numbers at the polls for now, but a change is going to come. Hope is alive and well!
Gina King can take her gesture of an honorary sign and forget it! I urge those in the minority to stop spending your hard-earned money at yard sales along Martin Luther King Avenue.
To the majority that let a street name change bring out your fear of change, know that, like a tree planted by the water, we shall not be moved. We shall overcome! Gina King, you have nothing to be proud of!
-- Lynda Perry Johnson, Zephyrhills
Flood of immigrants contributes to environmental problems
Re: We need regional plan to rein in development, April 16 guest column
-- Editor: Lynn McGarvey of the Sierra Group mentions items that need to be included in regional planning for the Tampa Bay area including land use, transportation, parks, green space, natural resource protection and regional trails.
McGarvey, in my opinion, is not wrong in her assessment, but she completely fails to recognize one of the biggest problems facing Florida and the country as a whole. What is that problem? Immigration, legal and illegal. After all, the developers would not be building housing developments and shopping malls if there were not people to fill them.
There are approximately 8- to 10-million illegal aliens in this country, a good many of them in Florida. They have to live and shop somewhere, don't they? And what of our overcrowded schools and the fact that the state can't keep up with building enough of them? Does anyone seriously believe that the large influx of illegal aliens into our state isn't a prime factor contributing to this problem?
The Sierra Club and other environmental organizations are always there to demonstrate and do whatever else they deem necessary to protect wetlands from development and prevent urban sprawl, but they are totally silent on one of the main reasons our infrastructure and environment are in a mess.
People cause pollution. People cause the need for additional housing, schools, etc., and as long as this country does nothing to stop the flow of immigrants into this country, and the Sierra Club refuses to take a position on this issue, the environmental problems will continue to escalate.
-- Sharon Lam, Hudson
[Last modified April 18, 2004, 01:35:47]
