ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, August 28, 1996 TAG: 9608280014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
I READ the Aug. 19 commentary on gender politics (``Women have reason to fear Republicans'' by Marianne Means) and was alarmed at the tone depicting women as a disadvantaged lot requiring the pandering of politicians.
The Democrats' attitude, mandating various helping-hand programs for women, is offensive to my sense of self-worth and potential for accomplishment.
The national media try in vain to protect the honor of our weak president when they suggest that only he and his party can help the ``plight'' of women.
I am not suffering from a plight. I can think for myself, I value my vote, and I would far rather be asked to join the Republican effort as an equal than to give away my valuable vote out of some unexplained fear.
Women will always view themselves as second-class if they give their vote to those who think that's so. Bob Dole and Jack Kemp want me to join them, and I will.
BOBI ARNOLD
ROANOKE
The Holocaust has lessons for all
I WAS saddened to read Robert F. Boyd's Aug. 12 letter to the editor, ``Enough about the Nazi Holocaust.'' There is no question that much attention has been paid to the Holocaust during the past two decades. Though more Jews died at the hands of the Nazis than any other people, the Holocaust isn't about their deaths alone. It's about the human capacity to act inhumanely. By remembering the Holocaust, we become sensitized to this side of our nature. Then, perhaps we will begin to evolve ``into a more compassionate and understanding animal,'' as Boyd says.
The Jewish community certainly recognizes that other people have experienced the horror of attempted genocide. We feel their pain and empathize with their experience. We take very seriously the biblical command to ``seek peace and pursue it.'' We often use our resources to help those communities in need. We will not stand idly by. We applaud efforts to make their plight known.
Our society is in such great need of Holocaust education. It's a blessing that that education exists. It's time for humanity to look upon each other noticing that all have been created in the divine image. The Holocaust teaches us the ramifications of forgetting these important values.
KATHY COHEN
Rabbi, Temple Emanuel
ROANOKE
Not all the poor are helpless victims
After READING your Aug. 11 editorial, "And the losers are ... ,'' I feel moved to offer a few observations. The editor is shedding tears for "America's poor" who are being victimized by the welfare-reform bill recently passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton.
At the risk of being politically incorrect, I would like to raise the following question: Is it reasonable to bunch all the "poor" in one all-encompassing classification and then empathize with them all at the same level? Wouldn't it make more sense to split them into at least two groups and then sympathize with each according to its just deserts?
Perhaps we could talk about the "worthy poor" and the "unworthy poor," or the "ambitious poor" and the "lackadaisical poor," or even the "motivated poor" and the "unmotivated poor." I think we can all agree that society should help a person who is poor because of circumstances beyond his or her control, but who is eager to leave that status and willing to work hard to do so.
As a poor teen-age student in East Texas in the '30s, nearly all my peers were poor. But most of them worked their way out of it in later life. They wanted a better life, and they were willing to work to achieve it.
Most of us agree that we should help the poor who are motivated to get out of poverty and those who can't help themselves. But the editorial went overboard with the implication that all of "America's poor" are being victimized by actions in Washington. Isn't it likely that many are receiving what they deserve?
WILLIAM A. BLACKWELL
BLACKSBURG
Disabled citizens aren't celebrating
SO ROANOKE is an All-America city for the fifth time. For whom? Not the disabled (Aug. 15 letter to the editor by Marci Boone, ``Many businesses still bar the disabled'').
It would appear that none of the letters supporting the award was from a disabled individual or a member of the delegation that went on the Fort Worth, Texas, trip.
A copy of Boone's letter is being sent to the All-America City and Community Award Program.
GERALD S. O'MORROW
RADFORD
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