Whittless: Having just read the column on hockey in Dallas ("Frozen Assets," February 1), I can only conclude that Richie Whitt's middle name must be Nit.
Eugene Flynn
Dallas
Richie, you ignorant slut: The problem with the Stars is not the team but the media reporting on it. You'd rather spend your time running your mouth speculating about the Cowboys and what they'll do next. You're not a reporter—to me, you're a hack. If you'd open your eyes, you'd see a team struggling to replenish the leadership they've lost to injuries. If you'd open your eyes, you'd see some of the best young foreign talent in the game (Jokinen, Miettinen and Hagman—can you pronounce those, you moron?). The obscurity problem you claim they have isn't because of their lack of heart or a lack of talent; it's because useless hacks like yourself couldn't find a story if someone gave it to you.
If you don't like hockey, fine, stop covering it. Let someone who understands this game and understands what these players are going through to stay in playoff contention (they're not Cowboys—at least they've seen the postseason more than twice in five years and won a game). Fans in Dallas will undoubtedly turn their attention to the Mavericks, and that's just geography. People in Texas love what they understand. They mock what they don't.
Gray Wilcox
Dallas
While We're at It
Delusional: Whoever the hack was that wrote about Parcells' retirement ("Delinquent Bill," by Richie Whitt, January 25) needs to reverse his/her lobotomy. Parcells obviously didn't win as much as we would have liked, but he has brought much talent to the team that will lead us to glory over the next few years. Parcells was also a breath of fresh air and the only coach not guilty of coachspeak bullshit. He was the only coach in the league with the balls to handle Terrell Owens.
Blake McVey
Memphis
Die, White Liberals, Die
By any means necessary: I agreed with David Fuller's letter to the editor (January 25) about your Preston Hollow Elementary story ("Split Decision," by Matt Pulle, January 11) until I got to his last paragraph. Fuller stated, "I am not defending the actions of the principal or the school district. I neither know nor care about those facts." Well, damn. Since he doesn't know or care about facts, I hope this guy is never on a jury.
You know what the facts are, Fuller—a white school principal wanted to attract as many white students as possible by any means necessary. So she decided to keep the neighborhood kids together by putting Hispanic and African-American children in ESL, whether they needed it or not. You know what the facts are, white liberal—you just don't care about the facts or the effects on children forced to be in ESL classes they didn't need.
Then again, why should you care? One of the many privileges of being white in the U.S.A. is never having to be at another group's mercy. In any way. Yes, all parents have to keep close tabs on their children's education. But white parents, being part of the group that has power and control, don't have to fear that their children will be put in ESL or special education for no reason.
The bottom line is that you can't ever imagine anyone doing that to your child (and warping their minds), so you don't give a s$#t about it happening to ours. So admit it.
What's the difference between a white liberal and the KKKlowns? The KKK doesn't pretend to like us.
Stephanie Malone
Dallas
Same ol': These racist practices have been the norm for DISD since the first non-white entered the district. In 1976, I was in fourth grade and forced desegregation was put in place, sending black kids from the Fair Park area to my mostly white elementary school (G.W. Truett). Plano was a tiny 'burb until this ill-thought plan took effect, but it spurred white flight to the nth degree. Those of us with parents not willing or able to head north were left to figure out how to adapt as the sudden minority group in our own neighborhood school. Many of the black kids hated the fact that they had to get up an hour early to catch a bus when the elementary school down the street from them sat empty and unused. Fighting and bullying were rampant, and the all-white school administrators had to figure out what to do to stem the violence. Any white kid with half a brain was suddenly introduced into the TAG (Talented and Gifted) program. For four hours a day we were isolated from the general population. I don't remember a single black kid in the program. I do remember resentment by most of the kids not in TAG, regardless of race, and had to adapt to a whole new set of problems and got into more than my share of fights because of the policies that were forced upon everyone. Of course, the white administrators almost always took the side of the smart white kid.
So, it saddened me to see that even though times and attitudes have changed, DISD remains the same.
J. Bruce Lamphier
Dallas
Blood and Guts
Cock men: I was stunned to read Jesse Hyde's article, but not because of its shocking portrayal of the cruelty of this "sport" ("Chicken Man," January 18). I was more surprised by the honest comments of those who enjoy the blood and guts—they call it like it is. Take a look in your refrigerator and tell me, are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best, "You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity."
Mark Peters
Bedford
