Today's Letters: Fight for what's right, and take responsibility for what's wrong

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published October 14, 2007

Lost on the road to Jena Oct. 7, Perspective story 

Nicole Hutcheson's story was one of the best articles I have read in years. This young lady addresses issues that most people do not want to address.

I believe that Hutcheson is absolutely correct in asserting that responsibility is the key. She gets it more than Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, et al. We as a species are a violent and intolerant group. We have a long way to go to get to where the word "equal" actually means "equal" - whether it is women's issues, race issues, religious or political issues.

This young woman has the right idea. Fight for what is right, but take responsibility for what is wrong. Only by accepting that others are not to blame for our lot in life can any of us strive to get past history and take steps to correct it.

Until white people can honestly admit that there exists racial injustice, and until African-American people will admit that part of the problem is self-induced, the road ahead will get more bumpy. However, with young people, like Nicole Hutcheson, leading the way, I think it will be a shorter trip.

Marc Pine, Tampa  

In defense of his Confederate prideOct. 7, story

Indefensible legacy

There's only one thing I can agree with Confederate sympathizer Nelson Winbush on: We Americans wallow in a "politically correct mess." So let's clean up the globs of political correctness he slathers onto the legacy of the Confederacy.

For starters, the act of renouncing one's country and taking up arms against it is pure and simple treason. That would make his grandfather a traitor, save for the technical fact that the side he fought for denied him both U.S. citizenship and full human status. I guess that made him a fool.

And those charming plantations? They were concentration camps to which black people, like Winbush's grandfather, had been either involuntarily deported to or born into. And unless Grandpa Nelson was forced with a gun to his head to fight against those who were coming to rescue him and his fellow slaves, that man was the worst kind of Uncle Tom.

Unquestionably, the Confederate battle flag was the symbol of the genocidal slavery that the antebellum South wished to maintain and, yes, of the segregation and lynchings that came after the Civil War.

I feel sorry for Winbush. Save for this delusional part of his life, he seems to have been a decent, productive citizen. But he has become his grandfather, and that's pitiful.

Bob Schur, Dunedin

In defense of his Confederate pride Oct. 7, story

Honoring family

I feel compelled to compliment reporter Stephanie Garry on her outstanding piece on Nelson Winbush. As a Northern transplant who has ancestors who fought for the Union and as a Civil War buff, I approached the article with a skeptical mind. I expected to feel sorry for Winbush. However, the story was told in such a way that I found myself empathizing with him and even identifying with the strong predilections that our parents and grandparents can instill in us as children.

I still stand firmly against the racist implications of the Confederate flag and am against its display on government buildings. But I respect men like Nelson Winbush who are holding on to and honoring their family's history and heritage. Thank you, Ms. Garry, for telling his story.

Brian Aungst Jr., Gainesville

Auschwitz, evil at play Oct. 7

Not so different

The shock and repulsion that people naturally feel when they see the photographs of Nazi commandants and aides smiling and enjoying themselves at leisure while mass murder was being committed a short distance away are perfectly understandable.

What never ceases to amaze me, however, is how Americans can never possibly imagine themselves in such a picture. Similar scenes happen every day in America's safe "Green Zone" in Baghdad where all the pleasures of life at home can be enjoyed.

While it is wrong to compare our killing of innocent Iraqi civilians with the genocide practiced by Nazi Germany, the individual human capacity to "compartmentalize" thoughts and feelings about the pain and suffering of others while continuing to enjoy one's daily life is the same.

It is very difficult for Americans to accept the idea that the Nazis were not "monsters" but human beings like ourselves, with all the capacity for unspeakable evil. Looking at the photographs from Auschwitz must help us to grasp that painful truth.

Patrick DeMarco, Riverview

Doing it for ourselves

How delighted I was to read Philip Gailey's Oct. 7 column, The separation of church and politics. It's a nice piece for people to chew on.

I do not believe that Jesus expects us to exercise Christian principles of love, charity and compassion through a governmental/state body. I cannot imagine that he would have us institute a national health insurance program, spend more money on the needs of the poor through governmental agencies or be concerned with tax breaks for the well-off. Instead, we are to love our fellow man and act as the Good Samaritan, not expecting an agency to cover for us. I believe he wants us to do for ourselves - you and me, loving one another.

I do not believe you can take a man's faith from him. As it's always a part of him, he will act accordingly throughout his life (although he may be subject to persuasion). Consequently, it is reasonable that citizens want the presidential candidates to express their beliefs, especially in this age, when we have come so far from the Jeffersonian wall of separation between church and state!

Grace Harris, St. Petersburg

Taking the high road

I would like to compliment Nicole Hutcheson on her objective viewpoint in the face of disappointment. It would have been much easier for her to write yet another article on the unrest in Jena, La., or to avoid any mention of the trip at all. Instead she took the high road and eloquently expressed her observations. I am sorry she missed her intended story but feel the story she did write was one of value.

Although I am only slightly older than the generation discussed in this story, I feel she was very accurate in surmising they have no compass and no clue. We have all been young once and experienced the pleasures or foolishness involved in that time of life. At some point it is time to grow up and face responsibilities - if not for ourselves, then at least for the example we set for the next generation. Nicole Hutcheson should be applauded for her standards, and thank God she did not get back on that bus.

Mary Port, Lutz

[Last modified October 13, 2007, 20:53:59]