Letters to the Editor: August 17 – 23, 2017
How to Help Heal the Wounds of Slavery
Editor,
In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, The Falls Church provides an example of how to help heal the wounds of slavery. In February of 2017 — nearly 250 years after it was built — the Church humbly acknowledged those slaves who — in the bondage of a shameful system in America’s history — built the structure that still stands today. A plaque now commemorates these enslaved souls.
In cities across the south, the descendants of those very same slaves have to relive a horrific each and every day in the shadows of monuments dedicated to the men who fought to keep them in chains. The Civil Rights Act was passed 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It took another 45 years for an African-American to reach the highest office in the land. We are still in a state of reconciliation in this country and the small, yet significant act, by the congregation of The Falls Church may be a watershed moment this country needs.
If we are to commemorate those who fought for the confederacy, then let us commemorate every building, bridge and structure that was constructed by enslaved people. We have yet to fully reconcile in a way that honors those who helped build this country (and much of the property and wealth accumulated by the families who owned them). The Falls Church’s act reminds us that we aren’t a perfect union, but are pursuing to be one. It allows our children to ask questions about injustices that took place. It provides a sliver of dignity and decency to a larger portion of Americans to counter those monuments that keep the wounds of slavery open. I’m not in favor of tearing down statues of the past, but of building ones that lead to better dialogue.
Last week the White House had an opportunity to help bring the country together. It failed in doing so. Perhaps the best place to commemorate the enslaved should be the very house the President resides in: The White House. Wouldn’t it then truly be “the People’s House”?
Chris Greame
Falls Church
We Must Remove All Icons of Hate & Slavery
Editor,
With regards to the pro-Nazi rally in Charlottesville where Heather Heyer was murdered by a white supremacist and Lt. Jay Cullen and Trpr. Berke Bates died on duty, we can see that racism has had a new rebirth in this great nation, especially since one of the hate groups also featured at this event was the despicable KKK. This is a group that like the Nazi Party has a history of murder and intimidation on a mass population scale.
After the murder of Heather Heyer and the critical injury of over a dozen others, I attended the memorial gathering at the White House where a speaker named Eugene pointed out that one of the symbols that perpetuate hate are the statues and icons that keep hatred alive against blacks and minorities, among the two mentioned was J.E.B. Stuart High School. We need to get rid of these icons of hate and slavery like J.E.B. Stuart as a school name and some of us should remember why so many of our relatives fathers and uncles fought against the Nazis in World War II.
Keith Conway
Vienna
Stand Up For Justice & Fight for Equality
Editor,
For years, I’ve talked to Little City Falls Churchillians who believe all abortion must end. They crusade ad nauseam to interfere in the lives of women they don’t know because their fundamentalist religion doesn’t allow them to believe anyone outside their faith is entitled to free will. This fundamentalist righteousness makes me wonder what pro-lifers are doing about the murders that took place during the Klan rally.
Fundamentalists: if life is really important to you, why are you sitting on your behinds? Why are you not outraged at what Number 45 and his party have created to placate your religious beliefs? Is 45 and his party your vision of Christianity? Are you so wrapped up in your insatiable desire to control the sexual lives of people you don’t know, have never supped with, and will never support financially, that your eyes are blinded to the real sanctity of life? Why is a fertilized egg so much more important to you than living, breathing people who were killed because you encourage 45 to speak out against everyone you and he hate?
If you have an ounce of courage or a scintilla of morality left within your souls, I urge you to stand up for justice, fight for equality and scream until this wicked government, which is using you and your God as its tool, ends.
Scot Walker
Falls Church
Cottage Project Will Improve Fire Dept. Response
Editor,
As a supporter of the railroad cottages project, I felt compelled to respond to last week’s Letter to the Editor concerning fire safety at the new cottages.
Firstly, the F.C. Fire Department and the fire marshall will review the plans for fire department access to the properties to be certain that their requirements will be met. Secondly, in assuming the cottages will be built with the quick-acting residential fire sprinkler systems, the residents will be fully protected should a fire occur. The residential sprinklers are designed to control and/or extinguish any fire at it point of origin. Nationwide, statistics indicate that no person had died in a fire with operating residential sprinkler systems.
Jim Coyle
Falls Church
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