Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160038
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
King's writings tell a different story. In truth, the greatest civil-rights leader in history compared the civil-rights movement to the founding of Planned Parenthood by Margaret Sanger. According to him, ``There is a striking kinship between our movement and Margaret Sanger's early efforts ... Like we, she was a direct actionist - a nonviolent resister. She was willing to accept scorn and abuse until the truth she saw was revealed to the millions. At the turn of the century, she went into the slums and set up a birth-control clinic, and for this deed she went to jail because she was violating an unjust law ... Our sure beginning in the struggle for equality by nonviolent direct action may not have been so resolute without the tradition established by Margaret Sanger and people like her.''
King engaged in boycotts, but never in blockades. He demanded that African-Americans be given access to public water fountains, lunch counters and bus seats the same as whites. Though his movement was nonviolent, he and others were killed in the pursuit of justice. By contrast, anti-abortion groups don't want to give equal access to everyone; they want to deny access to all. They're not dying in a nonviolent struggle; some are killing in the name of their violent struggle. And despite what Wolfer thinks, there's no way you can ``peacefully'' blockade a clinic.
King offered high praise for the woman who established the first Planned Parenthood clinic. I believe he wouldn't look so kindly on those trying to shut them down.
GWENDOLYN LEE BANGURA ROANOKE
Scrap NAFTA; try for a better deal
IT SEEMS like a good time for Americans to re-examine the so-called North American "Free Trade" Agreement. As a taxpayer, I never realized "free trade" needed so much public financing to make it happen.
The Mexican economy is fast sinking, and Americans are being asked to back loans made by American banks to the Mexican government. Oh yeah, we must keep "free trade" going.
The Clinton administration, along with leading Republicans, predicted more than 100,000 new jobs during the first year of NAFTA. A current study from the University of Maine calculates that 21,000 jobs were lost in trade with Canada and Mexico. Not a huge loss on a national level, but certainly not a gain.
And what about the promised retraining for workers displaced by NAFTA? The Institute for Policy Studies, based in Washington, D.C., cites statistics that show more than 30,000 workers have submitted claims for NAFTA-related transitional assistance. So far, only 12,000 have qualified. The Institute also points out that the pro-NAFTA organization - U.S.A. NAFTA - could only show 535 jobs created by U.S. corporations as a result of trade with Mexico. Put that number against jobs America has lost. In actuality, 300 of the jobs claimed to have been created were due to the Zenith Company. U.S.A. NAFTA forgot to point out that Zenith laid off 430 workers in Missouri to shift production to Mexico.
The writing is on the wall, or should I say Wall Street. Once again, American taxpayers are taken to the cleaners by transnational corporations and the current batch of Democrat and Republican leaders.
We must demand a re-examination of this agreement, address the job losses and hammer out a new trade agreement that will work. Say what you will, NAFTA doesn't.
PETE D. CASTELLI III
RINER
Crime follows gambling initiatives
I WOULD, first of all, like to say that I'm not your average letter writer. Two things have caught my attention on your editorial page.
First, I'd like to know where all the monies have gone from the state lottery that were supposed to help education in this commonwealth.
Second, haven't politicians learned from other states what happens when gambling (horse racing and casinos) become part of a society? Sure, from an economic point of view, tax revenues increase, but what about organized crime?
Roanoke is the smallest city in which I've ever lived. Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago and San Antonio are others, and, believe me, organized crime is a large element in those metro areas.
CRAIG A. WALLACE
ROANOKE
Residency is the only requirement
YOUR front-page headline in the Feb. 10 edition of this newspaper was grossly inaccurate (``Autistic pupil not welcome''). It doesn't represent the truth of the matter, and injects an issue into the situation that's unassociated with the cause for the school division's action.
Montgomery County's school division has an exceptional record in dealing with children, and it wouldn't enter into an action to discriminate against any child. Our case is simple. Are the Hartmanns residents of Montgomery County? Per Virginia Code 22.1-3, ``The public schools in each division shall be free to each person of school age who resides within the division.''
We're willing to abide by the court's decision, and will provide a free education to this child if the court upholds the family's claim to residence in Montgomery County. Once again, the issue is: Are they residents in Montgomery County? Your headline made it look like other issues are under consideration, and they're not.
It seems only fair that a retraction of a grossly erred headline be made. A modification of the guidelines for headline writing is also in order.
HERMAN G. BARTLETT JR.
Superintendent
Montgomery County Public Schools
CHRISTIANSBURG
Legislative games are not amusing
THIS LATEST chicanery that has been practiced in the House of Delegates is a blatant abdication of responsibility. Instead of conscientious debate and attention to the real problems of our commonwealth, these clowns are playing trick-or-treat (Feb. 10 news articles, ``Planning preceded the snare'' and ``House axes cuts to budget'').
If this is the best we the electorate can do in selecting those to handle tough issues that affect us all, we should be ashamed of ourselves. And we deserve what we get.
ARTHUR E. RAQUE
ROANOKE
Her smile didn't pass the tax cuts
READING Warren Fiske's Jan. 29 article "New Jersey's new governor has a lesson for Virginia," I came across the following phrase: " ... Whitman is an accessible, determined and charismatic pol with a radiant smile." What a poor choice of words for an otherwise informative article.
The quality of Gov. Whitman's smile had nothing to do with the rest of the piece, and it had no place in a serious article that discussed details of Whitman's tax cuts. Fiske thought it important to comment on her smile. Would he have made the same statement if he were talking about a male governor with a nice smile? I doubt it.
Your reporters should use the same standards when describing professional accomplishments of men and women. If you insist on including women's physical attributes in political articles, be fair and do the same for men. Gov. Allen may want to know what Fiske thinks about his eyes.
ANDREW L. PUZZIO
BLACKSBURG
Victim's appeals for life went unheeded
I FIND it ludicrous at best that Thomas David Strickler (Jan. 14 article, ``Va. Supreme Court rejects killer's appeal'') is so vehemently appealing his death sentence five years after he cold-bloodedly, mercilessly and wantonly denied Leann Whitlock her appeals to live. Perhaps Whitlock would have completed her college education, had a career, gotten married, etc., during the five years since her brutal murder at the hands of Strickler and his accomplice, Ronald Henderson, on Jan. 5, 1990.
Many people will still endure the pain and agony of this despicable and vile act long after Strickler's appeals are exhausted and he meets whatever his fate may be. Most assuredly, if his death sentence is fulfilled, it will be a far more merciful death than that which Whitlock endured.
RUTH N. LEWIS
ROANOKE
by CNB