Wednesday, June 17, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
LETTERS
Continued from page 2
meaningless until apprehended. So in these
circumstances are we not doing our children a
disservice by not forcefully instilling boundar-
ies that they must follow? And yes, we should
expect that from our authorities also.
There will always be bad decisions made
by all persons but accountability and reason-
able rules should be understood and followed
by all of us.
Is it not said there are usually two sides to
every story?
Byron Blake
s
s
s
To the Editor:
It9s all about lives these days; everybody is
arguing about whose life matters more.
This life, that life, your life, my life, black
life, brown life, all combined and mixed up
with a bunch of different colors, together
equal <All lives presented in one predominant
color.=
Race should not be a partisan issue, issues
like abortion, gun control, immigration,
LGBTQ issues, etc. These are issues that affect
particular segments of society, where, unfortu-
nately, politicians are required 4 hence mak-
ing it a partisan issue.
Race, on the other hand, affects each and
every one of us and each and every one of us
has a life. This racial thing has gone on for
nearly 300 years in America, Politicians can9t
fix it. The root cause is piss-poor parenting by
white lives, brown lives, black lives and all
lives. Yes, all lives matter and all lives need
to fix this.
Terry Coultas
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s
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To the Editor:
Hats off to the nature and art people of the
Sisters Country! Really! You wonderful peo-
ple have made Sisters into a pollinator and art
lover9s paradise!
Coming into town from the east, it9s a won-
der there aren9t traffic pile-ups daily. The route
is so attractive with the cyclone fence holding
Sisters Elementary School kids9 incredible art
work that is so beautiful. Now, with the com-
ing on of summer, we add the magnificent job
the Sisters gardening and ODOT crews have
done with the wildflower plantings and we
end up with a Pollinator9s Paradise.
I stepped out of my vehicle to go in and
get a haircut last Saturday morning and was
greeted by (at least) four species of native
bumblebees all spaced out on the beautiful
wildflower plantings in the lovely flower-
laden intersections.
As a person worrying about the disappear-
ances of all too many species of insects world
wide, I am so grateful to the Sisters public
works staff for doing all they do to help our
world of nature to heal.
Jim Anderson
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s
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To the Editor:
I was born in Alabama and raised in
Georgia, in the Jim Crow South. I was taught
that the Civil War was <The War of Northern
Aggression.= I grew up <whistling Dixie.=
The Confederate battle flag was on the <Dixie
Crystals= packets of sugar on restaurant tables.
It was only later that I learned that this lan-
guage and symbolism were not just wrong but
were intentionally used to injure and oppress
black people. The Ku Klux Klan has used the
Confederate battle flag to intimidate the black
community for a hundred years. That flag
was added to the Georgia state flag in 1956
because it was seen as a symbol of segrega-
tionist resistance to the Supreme Court9s deci-
sion in Brown v. Board of Education. Now, it
is the symbol of racial oppression and white
supremacy adopted by avowed racists and
murderers like Dylan Roof, who killed nine
black people at a prayer meeting in Charleston,
South Carolina.
It is past time that we as a society stop
See LETTERS on page 17
TEACHING: Parents
should lead by
example
Continued from page 4
" Practice self-love:
In the Ted Talk by Brene
Brown on the <Power of
Vulnerability,= she stresses
the importance of chil-
dren growing up believing
they are worthy of love and
belonging. Encourage your
children to love themselves
while respecting and valu-
ing differences in others. A
friend from Warm Springs
shared her amazement when
her son stated, <I9m not an
Indian.= The stereotypes he
had been subjected to about
his own race didn9t ring true.
She realized she had much
work to do to help him rec-
ognize the beauty of his
identity.
" Pay attention to
y o u r c h i l d 9s e n v i r o n -
ment: How are characters
7
portrayed in TV and sto-
ries? Ask teachers about
the curriculums they are
using.
" Advocate and teach
safety and caution: Most
white families teach little
about race and racism. Black
families must. Their children
need to be taught to be care-
ful. A friend shared the story
of a black man who was
pulled over by the police
while lawfully traveling after
dark in his car. Consciously,
he responded with what he
had learned as a young boy,
keep your hands out in front
of you, answer <Yes, Sir=
and <No, Sir= and do what
you are told. Most white
people can go any place in
our country without fear
of the police; black people
can9t.
Racism is systemic, com-
plex and subliminal, tak-
ing many forms, visible and
invisible, making it impera-
tive to teach our children
about it.
Happy
Father’s Day
to all the
amazing
dads out
there!
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