Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502030025
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
In the middle part of this century, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers blocked access to legal businesses (lunch counters, buses, etc.), occupied them, and endured harassment by the authorities to protest what they saw as a great moral wrong in society. While racism still exists, the civil-rights movement exposed the injustice of segregation and racism. The work of these people has clearly changed attitudes, and opened many opportunities previously denied individuals of a minority race. Today, King is honored with a national holiday.
Now, many citizens are protesting what they see as a great moral wrong in this country - abortion on demand. In protest, these individuals sometimes block access to legal businesses (abortion clinics) and infrequently occupy them. A very few misguided or deranged individuals have resorted to violence - actions that I and the majority of abortion opponents deplore, and which should bring swift and severe punishment for offenders.
In contrast with those earlier protesters, those exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and open dissent to protest the murder of unborn children are now labeled racketeers and criminals. They're subject to federal incarceration for organizing protest under the Racketeer-Influenced Corrupt Organization statute. Now, the Virginia General Assembly has voted to incarcerate and fine those who peacefully block access to abortion clinics more than once.
I wonder how this nation would have fared had similar sanctions been applied to Nation, King and others supporting unpopular, morally grounded causes. I believe we'd be much the worse today, and we'll be much the worse tomorrow if this legislation is allowed to become law. When the right of people to peacefully dissent is criminalized, liberty is in grave danger.
DALE R. WOLFER
SALEM
Allen's self-fulfilling prison prophesy
THE MORE I think about Gov. Allen's budget proposal, the more I seem to understand his logic.
If our educational and social programs are cut in the manner he proposes, then we'll raise a fine crop of high school dropouts. Allen is correct in assuming that many of them will turn to a life of crime. If so, then we'll eventually need all those new prisons in which to house all our new criminals.
Thank goodness we have the Republicans to plan so thoroughly for our future!
CAROL ELIZABETH JONES
LEXINGTON
Voters endorsed change, not a party
IT WOULD be a deception for the Republican Party to misinterpret results of the last election. For party members to ascertain that they're the party of choice would be a mistake. To celebrate this glorious occasion without reservation for the implications of the election results could cause chaotic problems for Republicans.
It's not so much that voters favored one party or the other, or that they believed in divine deliverance. However, it was the result of a confused population that no longer trusts the political system. When choices are limited, the voice of the people will be heard. The Republican Party must go forth with the people's voice and let its meaning direct change the people wanted.
The end result of the election suggests that the American people didn't endorse a party, but were attempting to make a change in the status quo.
WILLIAM D. STALLARD
ROANOKE
Property owners not fooled by the county
I MUST take issue with Lee B. Eddy's Jan. 17 letter to the editor, ``Assessments match market value.''
He stated that the average increase in county assessments was 3.3 percent. Some persons must have had a great reduction. My wife and I own a home, which had an increase of 3.92 percent, and an adjoining vacant lot with a 41.73 percent increase.
I don't know who our county officials think they're fooling by stating that the tax rate didn't increase. The rate increase is meaningless when assessments increase by this amount.
RALPH W. FOSTER
ROANOKE
Allen is delivering what voters ordered
GEORGE ALLEN is doing exactly as he promised, and is trying to fulfill the commitment he made to Virginians when he ran for governor. Voters are informed and intelligent, and the time has come to turn out politicians when they campaign one way and then do the opposite.
If we don't end parole, make punishment suit the crime and build more prisons, Virginians will be prisoners in their homes and will turn freedom over to the criminals.
Allen campaigned on education reform, and he wants to try some innovations such as charter schools. Many states are having great success with this, and also see the private sector getting involved with public education to raise learning standards. Most parents agree that we aren't getting fair value for our education tax dollar. A case in point was funding for the global-studies college at Radford University. Now, some professors are saying it was just a boondoggle.
Allen also campaigned on welfare reform. Taxpayers are willing to spend to give a helping hand, but when welfare becomes more lucrative than working, the system needs to be changed. We shouldn't have to pay unwed mothers to continue to have children, and have other able-bodied welfare recipients accept the system as a way of life.
With advanced technology and computers, government should downsize just as the private sector has done. In many cases, there's duplication in state services. And by cutting top bureaucrats, this will free up money for necessary programs.
Allen needs to keep up the good work. That's why we elected him!
PAULINE JOHNSON
ROANOKE
The pros and cons of minimum wage
YOUR JAN. 19 issue carried a commentary by James Dorn, who is vice president of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. The heading was, "Minimum wage maximizes poverty." I think his commentary could best be summed up in the sentence: "Instead of increasing the minimum wage, the new Congress should abolish it."
The minimum wage has been a subject of academic debate since its inception, and I feel there are telling arguments on both sides of the issue. Enough statistics can be marshaled by supporters and detractors to quickly cause the average reader to turn to another article or to the sports page instead.
But I could not help but wonder as I read Dorn's commentary what his gross would be for the time he spent writing his piece. Would it be $4.35 per hour? Not likely! When an article advocating banishing minimum wage is written by a person working at or below that wage, that would be an article worth reading!
FRANK WILLIAMSON
COVINGTON
Teens should not be stereotyped
I'M GLAD to see your Extra Credit columns in the newspaper, which feature outstanding teen-agers in our community. However, I feel that many area businesses have neglected the teen-age community by refusing service or jobs because of teen-age stereotypes.
I'm an 18-year-old college freshman with a current 4.0 average. I've worked hard, and with God's help have accomplished much for my age. There are many teens like me in our community today, but due to our age or dress, people assume that we're lazy and indolent. I feel that many young people have just decided to concede to such low standards since they cannot get recognition from anyone. They turn to alternate forms of happiness - drugs, sex, crime or gangs - to gain satisfaction. I condone judicial punishment for teens who have broken the law, but I don't condone area businesses or anyone passing judgment or refusing service to a teen due to his/her dress, age or a stereotypical expectation.
You hear a lot about civil rights and equality. It's time to put action into words. I challenge some big corporations and smaller businesses to hire local teens, to provide local activities and give incentives for teens to attend, to serve them. If treated like real people with high expectations for the future, maybe we could be more of an asset to your business and our nation.
RANDY HOLLEY
MONETA
by CNB