Letters to the Editor

If you are a concerned American who is part of the silent majority and worried about the future of our nation, now is the time to show support for our way of life. At this time, our way of life is being threatened by a small minority of people who are hellbent on destroying it, yet they are financed by some big money foreigners and Hollywood types while supported by some of the media.

We’ve seen on the news what these people who hide behind their masks do to communities under the guise of peaceful protests that end up hurting people, burning buildings, looting and threatening citizens while they are protecting their property. It is anarchy.

Now is the time to step up to the plate and take action. All that is needed is to fly the American flag at your home. Fly it every day until the election. If you don’t have a flag, go to one of the local retailers and buy one for just a few dollars.

Flying the flag will send a clear message to those who wish to do us harm that their tactics will not work. Fly your flag every day! And be sure to vote on Nov. 3, 2020.

J. Armstrong

Tyler

HISTORY LESSON

If school board leaders can’t be trusted to speak history correctly, what kind of example are they setting for children?

Robert E. Lee never donated the land that is Arlington National Cemetery. Robert E. Lee never owned the property. George Washington Parke Custis, grandson of Martha Washington (from first marriage to Daniel Parke Custis) acquired the land that is Arlington National Cemetery. The land passed to Custis’ daughter, Mary Anna, who married Robert E. Lee. Upon her death, the land passed to her son George Washington Custis Lee. The Lees abandoned the property at the start of the Civil War. The U.S. Army seized the land and used it to protect Washington, D.C. In 1874, George Washington Custis Lee sued the government claiming ownership of the land. On Dec. 9, 1882, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Custis Lee. Congress returned the land to him and on March 3, 1883, Custis Lee sold the land back to the government. Robert E. Lee died October 12, 1870. Therefore, he never donated any land that is now Arlington National Cemetery.

Patricia A. Bradley

1972 John Tyler graduate

Houston

ANGERED

As a man of color, I am angered by being judged by the color of my skin. You see, white is also a color. Whites are not the only people who can be racist. Take Rev. Farrakhan, for example. He’s about as racist as they come. The hate crime law is only used against whites who kill or injure Blacks. However, in Dallas, five white police officers were murdered by a Black man who declared that he hated whites, especially police officers. No news media ever referred to this as a hate crime. There are other examples of this unfair bias in that law. What really infuriates me is whenever some guilt-ridden, self-loathing white liberal accuses me of “white privilege.” If so, it has never done me much good. Whatever achievements or jobs I have gotten were attained by my merits, not race. However, there are numerous programs and universities that actively use race as prerequisite for admission, regardless of someone having a higher grade point average. The University of Texas Law School in Austin is an example of this farce. No federal employment law requires that a certain percentage of white people must be hired by a business, but Blacks and other races are. I am not the only one who feels this way. There are many, many more except news media never ask us about our opinion. I’m sure that you won’t print this simply because it’s true. Besides, you might offend a “person of color.”

Steven M. Harrell

Lindale

LYING CARTOON

The political cartoon in your paper on July 24 included a lie. I call it a lie because the political cartoonist certainly follows politics closely, and knew that the punch line was false. That makes it a lie, and not a mistake. The punch line below the drawing said, “Go ahead and call the Cops . . . If Biden wins they will be defunded anyway.” Joe Biden has stated repeatedly that he will not support defunding the police. Even Chris Wallace of Fox News corrected President Trump, in an interview recently, when the President made the same statement. The logic, obviously, is that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will eventually believe it.

It is one thing to criticize what someone does say; that’s totally fair. But lying is just plain wrong, and knowingly repeating it is even worse.

Fred Kalsbeek

Tyler