Letter to The Editor

To The Editor: 5-19-1963

I am a resident of location I would prefer to keep discreet, however I live were racial issues have been the talk of the town lately. As a Caucasian woman it is odd and beyond dangerous for me to even be speaking out like this, since I am fed up with the racial issues I believed it would be best to try and start something new. Just last week I heard an amazing speech by a very motivated young man who has been trying to get some justice for all in this country of ours. This same speech I came across in your New York Post Sunday Magazine today. I must admit the excitement that flowed through my veins once I came across it. I was worried the day he delivered it was the last time I would hear or see it. I thank you for including it in your Posts this week. The speech was Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He could not have delivered his speech more effectively than he did and nor at a better time. The unfortunate circumstances in which we currently face leave our society in such a way no one should ever have to live. These white men who rather continue to live in hate are demolishing any hopes of a civilized nation. Martin Luther King explains every one of his concepts in depth and provides very adequate arguments towards his fellow clergy. He attacked every doubt they had in such assertive ways I do not see how they can rebel with a comeback.
As I recall MLK provided a very touching example in this letter.
King stated : When you finally find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told Fun Town is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky , and see he begin to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness towards white people.”
With this statement by him it showed so much and put a family perspective on things. Children who do not understand what is going on are forming opinions on matters they do not know about. As he says he stumbled upon words to explain to her makes me acknowledge how courageous he is to attack these grown men and their racist ways but is so over taken by the thought of making his little girl sad. Martin Luther King is such a spirited man. His speeches never imply violence nor does he. He is all about peace and this is what I admire about this man. His goal will one day come true; I mean after all we cannot continue to live these ways. I yearn for the day I can speak to a mother of a black child and have her explain to me how she ever told her child they were unable to be somewhere or do something because of their skin color, it would break my heart to see my child so confused as to why she could not go to that amusement park but fortunately I am on the good side right now, and I do not have to worry about that.
Once again I thank you for the reposting of his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. I hope my reply will allow him to see he has at least one white person on his side for the abolishment of racism. I hope to hear more from this young man and see his words turn this world around, and I would hope you will provide all of us with a copy of his next movement.


Thank you and much respect
Anonymous

prompt #1

As illiteracy continues to erupt through out America many new individuals become victims of the epidemic. There are those of us like myself though that take or have taken the blessing of literacy for granted. I assumed it was something everyone was given and that everything I understood with ease so did everyone else, and what I struggled with were the same things others struggled with. Once I snapped out of my selfish world and into reality is when I began to notice the unfortunate epidemic.
In this beautiful life of mine I am very involved with people and activities. It recently came to me that my ability to read and write ables me tremendously to be able to do the things I love with ease. I enjoy shopping, playing basketball, reading gossip, and much more. My ability to read and write is somewhat what allows me to be able to participate in these activities. As we read and writes it expands our vocabulary and we become more knowledgeable.
As I previously mentioned reading gossip is a favorite pass time of mine. I actually would not narrow it down to just gossip since I enjoy reading the newspaper as well; especially the day after my team and I win a game. I read magazines to keep up with latest styles, new make-up, and of course what the starts are saying. If I was not able to read about this stuff I do not suppose it would be harmful to me, but it is just the fact that I enjoy it and I could not imagine sitting there starring at all the pictures wishing I knew what the text read. The same goes for the newspaper only one minor difference. When I read the articles about my team and I and see my quotes included in that article, I become filled with pride, joy and confidence. It’s a great feeling to know you were apart of that success story and everyone who bought a newspaper that day was reading about you. If I was not blessed with the skills to read those articles I most likely would never feel those emotions.
As an individual I am very self conscious, if I were to be illiterate it would destroy all confidence within me. I love being confident and able to go anywhere I want when I want. If I was illiterate I could not travel because of road signs or the inability to read a map. It bothers me when I come across one unfamiliar word and I struggle with it, I could not handle every word in a sentence giving me a hard time. My drive for success would be demolished and I would eventually give up. This is what is nerve racking to me because as more people become illiterate the more our society is jeopardized because their drive for success doesn’t match the same drive as a literate person. Illiteracy is a very unfortunate up hill battle. I am so fortunate and grateful to have the ability to read and write.

Oh Boy, Thinking Critically

When I think about what critically thinking means, for some odd reason I picture a girl sitting at her desk in class pulling her hair out because she is thinking so hard and nothing is coming to mind, well maybe I am picturing myself, cause thinking out side of the box for me is harder than it should be. Now when I come across the definition of critical thinking I begin to realize that it consist of many different things. Critical thinking relies on reason rather than emotion and requires us to think beyond what is given and come up with the unknown. I am very good at this I suppose in life outside of English; when dealing with clues I am given and making my own opinion or judgment with them. I would not say I do it all the time; I just do it sometimes when I feel there is something I should know. Now when I get into readings and such things my mind tends to think one thousand things and stresses me out, it leaves me unable to come up with anything, sometimes I even think my own opinion is wrong. As far as analyzing goes I do not do that often either. In my English 101 course this past semester I was just introduced to it. I analyzed our Language Awareness book and also Marius, I did it every week but as far as media and politics go I don’t really care to much for all of that to pay any attention to it all though I should. I do have interactions with other people who do break everything down and look at people and situations from every angle. I may analyze my friends or people I know to try and see what they are about but other than that I have no prior knowledge to doing so. Even though I am not fond of critically thinking or analyzing I have no other choice but to get used to it and fully understand it. My career path is corrections and in many situations I am going to have to take the whole scene and break it down into many different parts and take criminals and figure out why they do the things they do. I believe I psyche myself out most of the time. It seems like it may be easy for me to analyze a crime scene rather than a novel but it is just because I am much more interested in corrections and not so much in novels. I am hoping when June roles around I will be able to analyze anything or anyone that is thrown in front of me. I do not want one thousand things running through my mind when I hear analyze or think critically. I believe this class will help me to be much more aware of the things going on around me, since I will be able to look deeper than what the eye can see and I won’t be such a lost soul anymore.