Facing the truth: "Color Bind" (by Jim Schutze, October 2) was a great article. After reading this I thought of the term "racist" and how ridiculous the word can be. It is a shocking word, meaning to shock the accused, and when we hear the word thrown at us, even in the most ridiculous circumstances, we still are taken aback. I'm not familiar with Laura Miller's political success, as I have been away from the area for more than two years now, but I admire the way she faces truth, or rather the untruth of being accused of something and knowing that she has no need to feel guilty about the accusation.
Jason Asenap
Norman
Most expensive mayor: I don't know about the mayor being racist, and I really don't care. But I do know one thing. She is the most expensive b***h we have ever elected, costing the city a ton o' bucks in convention revenues with her no-smoking ban--almost costing us a tradition we hold near and dear to our hearts, TX/OU weekend. The only thing I can see that she does halfway right is her stand on education and making sure our children can read.
Oh, and no, I did not vote for her. I voted for the other guy and will again if she runs for another term.
Jane Watkins
Dallas
Strong woman: As a new resident to Dallas, I was hit with a racist remark from my own people (black people) because of where I chose to live (Kessler Park) and because I include all people in my life. Being born in Louisiana--my family is from Trinidad and French Canada, and we also have Native American blood--we love all people. If I were to hate white people, I would have to hate my own family.
No! Mayor Miller is not RACIST! She's a STRONG WOMAN, and I like that. Some of us (blacks in Dallas) need to learn to respect one another and show that Christian love they all speak about.
You're a very wise and informed man. Again, thank you.
Drevelyn "D" Minor
Dallas
The writer we once knew: I was just looking at the Dallas Observer archives, and I came across Laura Miller's final article ("Mr. Mayor, Meet Your Nightmare," December 18, 1997). In it she vented a laundry list of things she thought Ron Kirk and the former city manager needed to focus on: "Maybe they could spearhead a big, fat push to rehabilitate our much-deteriorated library system; or beautify our scrawny, long-ignored city parks; or build a decent place for our police officers to work; or create a zoo at least as nice as Fort Worth's."
What happened to the person who wrote that article? She'd make a great mayor.
R. Derrick White
Dallas
Not at all subtle: Jim Schutze could just as easily answer the question that he asked of people in this article by re-reading the last article Laura Miller wrote for the Observer. She chose the same tactic as George H.W. Bush did to assert herself in the run for mayor. Just as Bush vilified Willie Horton to garner support for his campaign, Laura Miller vilified John Wiley Price, Al Lipscomb and others in that last article. And if you don't see the race-baiting and racist attitude in that, it is simply because you don't care to see it, as it was not at all subtle.
Ruth Sherman
Westerville, Ohio
Ranch Rogues
Pieces of scum: Thank you for exposing the border vigilantes ("Soldiers of Misfortune," by Thomas Korosec, September 11) for what they are, individuals preying on paranoid Anglos and helpless, desperate poor people. As a documented ninth-generation Texan, my ancestors settled and suffered on this land we call Texas long before these Johnny-come-lately pieces of scum arrived. Because I proudly use my Spanish birth name and look "Hispanic," am I branded forever as someone to be hunted and terrorized?
The paranoid ranch owners bought the ranch six years ago. Mr. Foote is from Silicon Valley in California. How long have they been Texans? How long have they been Americans? If they took the time to investigate their roots, they, too, would find recent immigrants in their family trees. People who came to find the American dream. What makes us so arrogant? The fact that God allowed us to be born on the "right" side of a river?
Very close to the very ranch they claim, my family was forced to sell thousands of acres under eminent domain less than a decade ago. I like to think they would have been kinder to these unfortunate transients who come in desperate search of a meager existence. So the rancher lost a chicken...big deal! Will he still have something to eat tonight? Whose labor did he exploit to have what he has?
Diana Rendon
La Porte, Texas
Killer Theater
Quad C's excellence: I just wanted to thank Elaine Liner for coming to see Assassins at Quad C Theatre ("Casts of Killers," October 9). Her honesty about the production is greatly appreciated. As a student, and a member of the cast, reading her opinion of our work justifies the fact that we chose to attend this school. Why not a big university? Why Collin County Community College? There is a wide range of students at CCCCD, and each student has a reason for attending community college. However, the students who come to Quad C for the theater come knowing that we will be a part of excellence. CCCCD is a choice we made because we knew that our lives and our craft would be greatly improved. Reading your article upholds our choice to be a part of this "unknown" community college.
Justin A.P. Jones
Via e-mail
One Thing for Sure
Lucky guy: After reading your "sure thing" column this week ("Out of Luck," by John Gonzalez, October 9), I feel compelled to ask you one question: If you are so bad at predicting anything sports-related and are a poor wordsmith, how can you possibly consider yourself unlucky when the Observer pays you each week to write a sports column? THAT strikes me as extremely lucky.
As far as the ESPN/TV thing goes, I can't condone any growling, but I highly doubt that everyone (or even most) at the so-called auditions were better-looking than you. And I know.
Geri Ruppert
Via e-mail
Iraq and Back
Gutsy young man: Let me first say how utterly stunned I was when I opened your paper and read Carlton Stowers' piece on Marine Corporal Lee Strange ("Back From Babylon," October 9). All I could think of were the other 21-year-olds--you know, those mindless morons on autopilot, protesting the war from the safety of college campuses all over the country. Vietnam was a nightmare, but this Iraq is no Vietnam. Yet this gutsy young man was there as a volunteer, and the liberal media in this nation continue to soil his honorable service by fraudulently misreporting his campaign. It would have been nice to see this article's title on the cover of your paper, rather than page 15 where its impact was diminished, but I'm grateful for any attention, however small. Isn't it interesting how liberals are the first to invoke the freedom to dissent yet are the last to acknowledge and celebrate the instrument which protects that freedom--namely, the courageous young Americans like Corporal Strange.
Early Van Cleve
Double Oak
Iowa, Racial Nirvana
Taking a step back: In the Full Frontal section of your October 9 issue, Zac Crain and John Gonzalez refer to the Midwest as the "Klan-robe white Midwest" in their spoof on Reggie Swinton ("Swizzle Shtick"). I am from the Midwest, have lived there for 35 of my 41 years before moving to Dallas, and I have never seen a more clear case of the pot calling the kettle black in my life. When I lived in Iowa, integration was much more evident than here in Dallas. When I moved to Dallas, I honestly felt like I was going back in time with regard to race relations. In Iowa, we don't have black communities in an uproar over fired black police chiefs. In Iowa, we don't have black leaders calling for a recall of the local mayor on the grounds (true or not) of racism. In Iowa, we don't have dozens of Hispanics falsely charged with drug possession with nothing more than drywall as evidence. In Iowa, we don't have black activists picketing the mayor's house (justified or not). In Iowa, we don't have rural high schools publicly reprimanded for using the Nazi flag in their halftime shows. In Iowa, we don't have black activists holding up "wetback" signs at city council meetings.
Kevin Christensen
Dallas
