Why the continued vindictiveness over slavery, and now the demand for restitution? Restitution to whom? And for what?

Many arguments that focus on the past incivility of slavery erroneously apply today’s culture, values, beliefs and moral standards to those of a time of lesser civility exhibited by our forefathers, their governments and, yes, their churches, temples and synagogues. Even in more recent days of the “civilization process,” we and these institutions were shamefully comfortable with denying women the right to vote. Do the American Indians and these women who were denied the vote and their descendants also deserve restitution?

No. From an historical point of view, in “fairness,” we would all, as descendants of ancestors who at one time in history, experienced slavery and uncivil governmental treatment would be in the long stretching restitution line.

Today’s blacks, descendants of the most recent victims of slavery, understandably feel residual effects of the trauma experienced by their forefathers. But they also enjoy a quality of life, freedoms and relative wealth far exceeding that of the descendants of their African kin who managed to escape slavery but still live in squalor and with little or no freedom today.

Armond Simmons
Pell City

I felt the need to reply to James Lawrence’s recent letter, which stated “Alabamians who really care about their children place them in private schools, not government schools.”

My wife is a graduate of the Montgomery public schools and I am a graduate of the Eveleth, Minn., public schools. The main reason we sent our daughter to the public schools was that they represent the real world which she will be dealing with the rest of her life.

She received a quality education in the Montgomery public schools and we are thankful for that. She was involved in softball, cheerleading and gymnastics. We were actively involved with all of these activities, even traveling out of town with these teams when the occasion warranted, working in the concessions at the home basketball games, as well as serving in the PTA.

I was raised in Minnesota. The property taxes there are considerably higher and is one reason why the Minnesota schools rank higher than Alabama schools.

So, Mr. Lawrence, who are you to judge us? You need to avoid such all-encompassing irresponsible statements.

Randy Johnson
Montgomery

The first time I recall hearing the term “black-on-black crime” was nearly a decade ago. Once again, during the recent SCLC conference in Montgomery, this term took on life as many civic and spiritual leaders of this organization promoted the awareness of this delicate situation.

In my opinion, however, the idea of combating strictly black-on- black crimes suggests that perhaps those flying this banner are not truly concerned with the welfare of society in general. A more conscientious and worthy effort would be to combat all crime without limiting the scope of concern to specific victims and offenders based on their race.

There is no doubt that crime is financially, emotionally and sometimes physically damaging. Everyone, especially leaders in our community, should send the strong message that those who violate the law, regardless of their race or the race of their victims, will face the scrutiny of a public that will not tolerate unlawful behavior in order to ensure a safer community for all citizens.

A.J. Signore
Deatsville

Alabama has many problems, including inadequate funding for schools, prisons, state troopers, children and the elderly. We also have a regressive system of taxation and exorbitant, obscene salaries and pensions for Supreme Court justices.

It has been said that we need Christian leaders in our top state positions. I don’t think it is absolutely necessary for a person to be a Christian to be a competent leader, but I do believe a Christian would be concerned about the items mentioned above and ask God to help find solutions.

On the other hand, a fundamentalist might, during the hours of darkness, move a 2 1/2-ton rock into a building owned by the people of this state. This would be his priority. He would be guided by his own political ambition and arrogance and not be concerned about his fellow servants in the building or the people of the state who are his bosses.

You may recall that 2,000 years ago, fundamentalists (called Pharisees) did some of their most evil acts during the hours of darkness.

Drew T. Johnson
Demopolis

With regard to the Chandra Levy situation, why is all of the blame being placed on Rep. Gary Condit? Condit is not on my list of favorite people, but even he deserves the benefit-of-the-doubt aspect of the law. Let’s face the reality of the situation — it took two persons to engage in this affair.

We know that this type of sordid behavior is happening every day and we are certainly aware that our young people are engaging in this horrible practice of sin and iniquity. As long as the practice produces the desired pleasures for the moment, everyone is quiet, joyful and accepting of the practice.

Where were the parents when the affair was happening? Why didn’t they expose the practice before this unfortunate occurrence? Surely they were aware that this unacceptable misbehavior was happening.

Let’s get real and attack the problem and its root cause rather than the after effects. Our young people are being led into a den of iniquity as they enter into life’s “adult” world and they do so with our pathetic silent support because we all know what awaits them.

K.T. Brown
Montgomery

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