ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701270007
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTERS
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 29, 1997.
Clarification
Donald R. Johnson of Thaxton would like readers to know that he is
not the same person as Donald R. Johnson of Bedford whose letter to the
editor ("King's communist leanings recalled") was published on Jan. 27.
No more edifices on Mill Mountain
I WANT to support Betty Field and Roanoke City Councilman Jim Trout in their stand on behalf of our beautiful Mill Mountain (Jan. 19 news article, ``Atop Mill Mountain, views of future differ'').
It is very typical of our times to want to commercialize everything and wring money from every possible source. But that mountain is a natural wonder of our valley. It makes Roanoke a lovely city to visit. It should remain natural.
We have a myriad of wonderful restaurants, museums, things to see and places to go right here in the Roanoke Valley. Please do not do another study, and please do not put any commercial, man-made projects on our mountain.
The Mill Mountain Star and the Mill Mountain Zoo are sufficient. Let us enjoy natural beauty.
ELIZABETH T. NICHOLS
GOODVIEW
King's communist leanings recalled
IN 1986, the United States started observing Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday. He is certainly not worthy or deserving of such an honor.
King was a communist and racial agitator. He attended communist training schools - such as the Highlander Folk School in Mounteagle, Tenn., cited as a communist training school by the state of Tennessee - as far back as 1957.
He had well-known friendships with Abner Berry, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and with Aubrey Williams, a Communist Party organizer and president of the Southern Conference Educational Fund, a communist front.
King's communist connections were so alarming that he was monitored by the FBI. On Oct. 10, 1963, U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy ordered wiretaps on King. Karl Prussian, who spent years as a spy in the Communist Party for the FBI, stated in a sworn affidavit that King ``accepted support from communist fronts, individuals and organizations which espouse communist causes.''
The evidence goes on and on. Much of it has been secretly sealed. In 1977, Coretta Scott King was able to get a federal court order to seal the FBI file on King until the year 2027. Why?
If you recognize and celebrate Martin Luther King Day, you are honoring a known communist and racial agitator. Not me!
DONALD R. JOHNSON
BEDFORD
Article on crack was instructional
IN RESPONSE to Chad Blosser's Jan. 17 letter to the editor, ``Crack `recipe' was uncalled for'':
The Jan. 11 news article (``Crack's double edge'') described the ongoing problem in Roanoke and informed people as to what the drug is all about, how it starts and how it ends up destroying the lives of its users.
Blosser had better open his eyes if he thinks the dependent young people and users of all ages do not know how to cook and make crack cocaine. It is their parents and friends who know nothing about it - other than it takes over people they once loved and cared for, and destroys these people and brings them down to a level never before thought possible.
I commend The Roanoke Times for helping those of us who have loved ones going through this addiction to understand how, what and why. Turning a blind eye to the problem or pretending it doesn't exist does nothing but mask it and make it worse.
Wake up in Blue Ridge. I am sure the problem isn't far from your neighborhood.
STEPHEN W. MEADOR
ROANOKE
Keep the state's traditional song
WE DO not need to be concerned about our state song any longer (Jan. 16, ``General Assembly notebook''). Since Oakland, Calif., has endorsed Ebonics, ``we's guine t-be aw-rite now!''
Including some of our black heritage's natural love of home in Virginia shouldn't be offensive. To the contrary, we may become famous for having held on so long to our traditional song, ``Carry Me Back To Old Virginia.'' It was always meant for endearment anyway - not poking fun or racial disparagement.
Let it alone. There's nothing better to replace it. Today's songs are worse!
DONNA GARRETT
ROANOKE
Cosby family's pain is shared
MY HEART really aches and goes out to the Cosby family. I know what they are going through, and I hurt for and with them.
Two years ago, my daughter was brutally gunned down in her own home. You never fully recover from the loss of a child. The monster who took my child from me is in prison for the rest of his life. He is alive, but I will never see my child again. He took her life, and his should have been taken.
The days are long and the nights are even longer for me. It's hard to laugh or smile, for inside you are crying and your heart is breaking.
IRENE GROVES
ROANOKE
LENGTH: Long : 103 linesby CNB