Cleaning the court

Dear Editor,

The excellent job on the bocce court was done by the Boy Scouts, so I was told. That’s the best the court has looked in a long time!

I would also tell people who let their children disrupt the court by playing and digging on it are not paying attention to the sign. It says to “Keep off.” It’s not a sandbox.

The scouts did a great job.

Please be respectful and responsible.

Semper Fi.

Carl A. Rozzelle,

Russell

Looking within

Dear Editor,

You shouldn’t have written that letter. You just don’t say that. That’s something you should chat about in private.

And so I was admonished for submitting a letter to the editor a few years ago about a traffic stop in Pittsburgh. Registration. Insurance cards. Me digging in the console, my wife digging in the glove box, instead of hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. The officer chuckled. I mused would it have been different had we been persons of color?

My purpose in writing was that maybe people would think about racial profiling. Try to get perspective why Colin Kaepernick was taking a knee. You know, the guy who should go back to where he came from (he comes from here).

Instead the reaction was he must think all cops are bad — they are not; all cops are racist — they are not; and I hate the cops — not true.

We have a terrific police force in Warren County. Quality work in a very dangerous job. I served many officers as patients. We enjoyed many good discussions. I helped several with the vision requirement to get into the state police academy. Maybe bending the rules a little?

But we must go beyond Warren County. And whereas I believe most police officers are professional and fair, racial profiling exists.

Ask Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Red Joe Morgan who was arrested at LAX for FWB (flying while black). At our southern home we have had neighbors stopped for DWB (driving while black).

I didn’t know George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, or Freddie Gray either. Maybe nice guys, maybe not. Certainly not heroes. Then they were killed.

Their deaths don’t surprise much.

For years the image of Barack Obama’s head was the most popular target at gun ranges.

I’ve seen people carry loaded handguns in their golf bags in case “they” show up.

I’ve seen neighbors move because they are moving in.

Too many paint all persons of color as drunk drug dealing bums or welfare queens. It is no more true than saying all police are racist.

Hate the messenger if you like, but we cannot ignore the message. If nothing changes it is bound to stay the same.

A few suggestions.

Turn off the TV. Both channels.

Read real history. Not the sanitized stories we were fed in school. Look at the warts as well as the beauty of our great country. Look and learn from our mistakes. There were plenty. Read about the Black Codes. Discover some heroes who weren’t as great as history presents them. Study why people have their fears and prejudices.

Put yourself in the shoes of those of color. Put yourself in the shoes of the police. What would you think? What would you do?

The only person you can be 100% sure of changing is yourself.

James Spangler, OD,

Warren