Discussion starts anew
As I read the headlines and editorials in the Democrat-Gazette about Charleston and the discourse now taking place across the country about race relations, I thought, "Starbucks sure had it right!"
Most certainly the discussion about race in America would be much more palatable over a cup of high-priced and tasty coffee than over a hateful and terrifying cauldron of blood from nine victims. The displeasure and ridicule expressed when Starbucks tried to engage us in that discussion just seems so petty given where we are now.
Perhaps we can talk about why race matters in this country over a cup of coffee, a mug of hot chocolate, or even a pew and a Bible. Whatever we decide, let us do it together without regard to race, ethnicity, country of origin, or any other measure that divides us.
I am so sorry, Charleston, for the price you had to pay to get this conversation started once again.
JANICE CHAPARRO
Little Rock
Examine the source
As we mourn for our country and the individual families who are in such pain today, I wonder why we haven't come very far in our struggle against racism. Why can't we follow the teachings of Christ when we can so readily say WWJD? Can't we disagree with someone without spewing hate? How is all this hatred perpetuated?
When I hear people make extremely negative comments about President Barack Obama that aren't based on fact or political reality, I sense that those comments are coming from some deep place of racial hatred. Those people are encouraging racism, holding on to it dearly and justifying it somehow by blaming his politics. Sad.
We need to examine our motives for hatred and vindictiveness. Babies don't come into the world hating. Did we "learn" this hatred from our parents? Did we associate with children who hated? Do we in some perverted way use the Bible to justify hatred? Do the media actually foster hatred and racism?
Quoting a former student, "Does it occur to anyone that if we're really so afraid of each other we think it's necessary to be armed in church and school, maybe there's a fatal flaw with our culture that we might ought to consider addressing?" Did our culture make Dylann Roof possible? Have we turned a blind eye to that "fatal flaw?"
That brings to mind what Mark Twain wrote over a hundred years ago in Huckleberry Finn when he described the Grangerford/Shepherdson families who took their guns to church and worshipped the Lord. The people involved in the feud didn't even remember why they hated each other.
It is obviously going to take more than reading books to make us the loving, understanding people that we are called to be, but that is a start. Let's do everything in our power to be that people.
GEORGE ANNE DRAPER
Wynne
Not smart to move it
I was really amazed to see a recent picture of a large tree, full of leaves, being moved for planting, especially in hot June.
Even if they shade and water it copiously, I'd expect it to die quickly. Apparently, many don't know that deciduous (non-evergreen) plants stand a much better chance if moved when their limbs are bare and the weather is cool.
SETH HENRY
Stuttgart
Who advertised it?
If you missed out on attending the National Quilt Association show at the Convention Center this past weekend, I am sorry. It was awesome.
I learned about it by word of mouth. Other people I talked with also learned about it word of mouth. I would like to know who dropped the ball about advertising the show.
DARILYN HESTER
Little Rock
Get rid of columnist
Parenting columnist John Rosemond's "Because I said so" mantra is wearing thin with me. It is wrong on many levels.
Aside from the fact that it is rude, sarcastic and smacks of a schoolyard retort, I would suggest that should a child ever ask "why" upon a second incidence of instruction, the first "because I said so" was ineffective. Too, the answer is false.
If parents want to teach their children civility, they should speak in a civil tongue. How about a calm but assertive, "Do as I say, please," if the child responds to a certain instruction with a polite (I stress polite) request to delay or marginalize the task. Or, "I think it's best, Honey. Don't question me about that again, please," if you've had to deny a certain request by the child.
I cannot imagine a well-trained child daring to ask "why" about any instruction. The best way to proceed if that should happen might be to briskly head for the child, take his arm with a very firm hold, turn him to the direction of his room and tell him to go to it and not emerge from it until he is called. That will not answer his question but will clearly address the consequences of it. Later have him do his chore with an additional one attached to it. He won't dare ask "why" about that.
I'm reminded of that quack, T. Berry Brazelton, the pediatrician who promoted diaper-wearing until the ages of 4 and 5. His syndicated column ran in many newspapers, but he was outed as a highly paid shill for Pampers. Maybe it's time to give Rosemond the boot, too. His tone is too abrasive for me.
JANET HILL
Fairfield Bay
Preach it, practice it
(Reverend?) Jesse C. Turner's recent denouncement of Judge Wendell Griffen's ruling that same-sex couples have a right to marry, and Turner's call for another clerical protest against same-sex marriage on the Capitol steps, is just one more example of the hypocrisy that seems to permeate these times we now live in.
I find it quite ironic that an African American (cleric or not) would even consider discrimination against any citizen of this country. Has Mr. Turner (and other black clergymen who agree with him) forgotten the discrimination and intolerance that his slave ancestors, parents and grandparents, and brothers and sisters have suffered under for over three hundred years? Have he and his protesting fellow clergymen forgotten "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"?
Jesus gave us two commandments: To love God, and to love thy neighbor as thyself. "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Mr. Turner, you state that "no one can say they love God and hate anyone"; then I suggest that you practice what you preach, or step down from the pulpit.
FLEMING STOCKTON
Little Rock
Editorial on 06/26/2015