Letters to the Editor

‘Peace doves’ piece accentuates often-overlooked positives

Thank you for Yawu Miller’s story, “Youth-painted ‘peace doves’ take flight in Hub” (May 1, 2008). I saw a pair of these “peace doves” on the sidewalk outside the Dorchester District Court.

It is refreshing to see the media, especially an important publication like the Banner, give positive credit to the many good and caring youth of the community.

Rudge S. McKenney
Via e-mail

Obama on point with Father’s Day remarks

I was glad to see U.S. Sen. Barack Obama take on fatherhood in his Father’s Day-themed speech (“Obama tells black fathers to engage their children,” June 19, 2008).

Absentee dads play a major role in the breakdown of the family structure, and Barack Obama has direct personal experience with this social pathology: His own father disappeared when he was only 2 years old.

Thankfully, he had good grandparents ready to step into the gap. Many young people are not so lucky.

The black community isn’t alone in dealing with dads who are missing in action — this issue cuts across racial lines.

Fathers and mothers are a child’s first role models. Government’s role in rearing children is negligible.

Parents are society’s secret weapon. Not just on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, but every day.

  Sal Giarratani
Dorchester 

Another reading on Wright’s wrongs

I am an African American male. If I were in Chicago, I would take myself to Trinity United Church of Christ in order to bask in the light of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s legacy. I would not shun him or his congregation.

Why, you ask?

Many times, because of the atrocious acts that the American government has committed against both African Americans and other minorities in this country or to others all around the world, I have thought: “Lord, forgive them for their ignorance and behavior,” or “God, punish them for their evil behavior towards me and mine.”

On occasion, when really angry, I have said: “God, please damn them” — meaning, “Punish them so they do not do it again.”

Many Americans interpret such a plea to God to damn us for our wickedness as hatemongering, rather than the tough love that ought to be administered when one has sinned.

  Theodore H. Howe
Brookline