To the editor:
I subscribe to both the Union Leader and The Ledger Transcript – The Union Leader is far right of Center and any criticism of the Black Lives Matter banner in the Transcript brings a blitz of editorials and front-page articles supporting it. I guess I’m the only subscriber to the Ledger that isn’t a member of the Unitarian Church.
Perspectives matter. One person looks at the prison system and sees racism. I look at the prison system and think, gee, the majority of inmates aren’t high-school dropouts because they never dropped in. Then I remember articles reporting the complaints of businesses because they can’t find welders and other skilled workers. Maybe our schools need to provide the option for more hands-on training that results in good-paying jobs that actually lead to employment.
I look at the gangs roaming the streets of Chicago and see them as a healthy response to the break down of basic social structures that provide young people with a sense of belonging. Trouble is, in the absence of useful things to do and direction, the gangs disintegrate into Lord of the Flies. It’s hard not to equate the 70 percent single-parent families with this situation.
One person sees the clashes between police and community as an example of Police Brutality. I see the dramatic changes in society that make police work extremely difficult and require more complex and intense training not slogans.
I watched the news as burning and looting was in progress in Baltimore.
A Black Vietnam vet was charging up and down the street admonishing people.
A news reporter stuck a microphone at him saying Black Lives Matter. The Vet snapped all lives matter! Guess the vet was more interested in dealing with the situation at hand rather than engaging in philosophical discussion Not sure if hanging banners really changes people’s attitudes or is simply preaching to the choir. It may just make non choir members defensive rather than enlightened. Winston Churchill once said he was always ready to learn but did not always like to be taught.
Diana Starr DanielS
Greenville