Ethnically Speaking by Larry Meeks

Dear Larry: I read your column faithfully, and though I do not agree with a large percentage of your commentary or advice, I still respect and enjoy your differences of opinion. However, after reading R.S.' letter concerning a proposed law against nooses and your subsequent response, I find that I am absolutely stunned by your logic.

A noose not only is a highly unpleasant symbol on its own but also has historical connotations for the African race that cannot be denied. It is conscienceless on your part to just brush it aside with trite comparisons.

You and R.S. are doing a huge disservice to those who died for the freedom we enjoy today.

Hundreds of people lost their lives unlawfully at the ends of nooses. You should be ashamed of wearing the blinders that seemingly are welded to your head. Maybe I should go out and spray paint a couple of swastikas on the tree in my front yard. After all, a swastika is just an ancient symbol that refers to well-being and good luck.

As for R.S. — the person referring to the proposed law of banning nooses as dumb — and his inane comparisons, I only wish we could send him back in time so he could witness fully what it feels like to have a noose placed around his neck because of the color of his skin.

Perhaps then he wouldn't think the legislator proposing the law to be so dumb. Maybe then he would learn a little compassion and respect for our ancestors. — Marsha

Dear Marsha: My mailbag and e-mail inbox are filled with letters disagreeing with me for not thinking the noose should be outlawed because of its alleged anti-black symbolism.

First of all, I know firsthand what it is like to go to segregated schools, be denied jobs, be denied entrance to hotels, be denied equal rights, and experience hatred solely because of the color of my skin.

I grew up during a time when the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups ran amok through the black community without consequence.

My grandfather ran away in the middle of the night to another state because a lynch mob wanted to kill him. They thought he was being too uppity for owning a 100-acre farm in Arkansas.

I mention all of this to let you know that I speak from experience, not from some philosophical ideology.

Symbols of hatred are anything on which you choose to place importance, and hating because of a symbol is like chasing your own tail. If you hate because of a symbol, that symbol is something that controls you, and every time you see the symbol, you conjure up your hatred.

This process is called conditioning. You are like Pavlov's dog. Ivan Pavlov, a famous physiologist, could get his dog to salivate by merely ringing a bell. People can make you hate by showing you a picture of a tied rope. That is sad.

I have friends who get angry at pictures of crows because they think the pictures represent Jim Crow. I know others who become agitated seeing pictures of Confederate flags, Robert E. Lee, white robes, whips, rebel hats and fields of cotton.

A rope or any picture has no meaning or power except what you choose to give it. The best thing to do is let the symbol lose its meaning.

For example, the cross was used by the Romans to cause their enemies and early Christians to cower and submit to them. Today the cross is used by Christians as a source of pride and strength.

To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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