We appear to have too many sharks. Everything needs to be managed — up or down — for the benefit of mankind. We probably have plenty of wolves, grizzly bears and alligators.

I hear they turn the rattlesnakes loose after the rattlesnake rodeo in Opp. I've shot two rattlers in my yard lately. Some things we just don't need at all.

Harold M. Whorton
Pine Level

Reparations? I'm reminded of the monument to the boll weevil in Enterprise, which recognizes a tragedy wherein the boll weevil devastated the cotton crop, the economy, livelihoods and created famine in the Wiregrass area — but became a blessing in disguise when peanuts became the crop that provided a wealth and a standard of living to today's descendants of former impoverished cotton farmers far surpassing that provided by cotton.

In a similar vein, but in sincere deference to the tragic plight of African slaves in this country, their sacrifice at the hands of slave owners ultimately provided a freedom, wealth and standard of living to today's descendants that elicit envy of their kin in Africa who continue to live in freedomless squalor today.

I can envision a day when, as the Boll Weevil monument personifies the ability of the destitute of the old Wiregrass to capitalize on tragedy, a comparable slavery monument will stand which will recognize an early American inhumanity to some that became a blessing to many.

Armond Simmons
Pell City

What a farce: Judge Moore and black legislators sitting down and negotiating whether or not black leaders can put their own monument in the rotunda of the state's Judicial Building. They both missed the point on this issue. Let's keep the Ten Commandments in the church where they belong.

Pretending to negotiate with black leaders is a smart move on Moore's part. It's making Moore look like he's doing everybody a favor by cutting a deal with black legislators to allow their own monument in the rotunda.

Once again, the main point is being missed on this issue. Black leaders need to make a concerted effort on getting the block of granite out of a state facility, instead of trying to put one in.

L. Jacquemart
Montgomery