THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9409010012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
If the facts in ``Eviction notices reward for cleanup'' (news, Aug. 28) are correct, we have an outrageous travesty of decency and bureaucratic viciousness prevalent in Hampton.
Political leaders, self-appointed religious messiahs, and a whole cadre of pointy-headed do-gooders are constantly howling that Americans - meaning minorities - should re-learn the lessons of self-reliance and personal and civic responsibilities.
So what happens? Four apparently kind and compassionate mothers in Hampton proceed to clean up, paint and restore a filthy playground for the use and pleasure of (still) innocent tots.
And what is their reward for such civic initiative and effort?
An insane and illegal punishment of a year's hard labor in the playground, scrubbing off their cheerful paint, including the word ``happy,'' with which they had desecrated that broken-glass-and-condom-filled lot. And since when do the laws of the land allow the Hampton Housing Authority to hand down non-judicial punishment like a year's ``prohibition'' and threats of eviction for no just cause?
It's always been my understanding that ``probation'' is a leniency of a court extended to an individual convicted of a crime. Have we sunk so low that the kindness of these four ladies is now in the category of a public social crime?
I think the finger instead should point toward the director of HHA, who was quoted in your article as saying that he did not know the last time the playground was cleaned or painted.
Perhaps he didn't care, either.
The four fine ladies did.
ROBERT STANLEY NEED
Norfolk, Aug. 29, 1994 by CNB