Jackson Free Press

Every couple months, I click into the Northside Sun's Web site to look at what their prize-winning columnists are talking about. It's always a mistake—or, better yet, a little humor journey funnier than readin The Onion. Here are a couple of this week's fun bits.

Mr. Walter Redden (click for his mug) laments the fact that life is no longer as safe as it was growing up in a small town in Bolivar County in the Delta where his family left thir cars unlocked. Now, I'm guessing he grew up in, oh, the 40s maybe. It is possible that the Delta was not quite as safe for everyone as it was for his family. But, I feel his pain.

Anyway, he thinks the answer is to declare martial law and "bring out the Guard!" like they did, oh, back in the 50s and 60s. "The military came to Little Rock and Oxford, and secured peace and tranquility in both towns." Umm. I thought towns used to be safe back then. And it does make me wonder what Mr. Redden's peaceful Delta family thought about all those troops being called into Oxford back then. Maybe they loved it, but it does make one wonder if they're just might be a tad of revisionism at play here.

I'm down with demanding better crime response, but it is really something to pretend that the small towns of Mississippi were oh-so-safe back in the day with our history of violence.

Then there's this one by Mr. Dan Hanchey about how "diversities" will destroy our country, even as sports will save us:

Different languages and other "diversities" divide, disintegrate and eventually destroy nations. That is not a personal opinion. It is an historical fact.

One of the great unifiers on our school campuses is athletics. Schools that excel in one sport or another have more school pride and unity than those who do not, among the student body and alumni. They are the schools most students want to attend. Those schools tend to have not only the best athletic programs, but the best academic programs, too.

I think he's confused about that "an historical fact" part. Its fighting against diversity that has hurt so many nations, including our own.

The bottom line is that if Mr. Hanchey wants to only speak English, that's his right as an American. If someone else wants another language as their first for themselves and their children, it's none of his business.

Previous Comments

ID

110538

Comment

I had the misfortune of reading Redden's article this week, too. Pretty bad.

Author

millhouse

Date

2007-03-03T14:23:53-06:00

ID

110539

Comment

Why don't you take Mr Redden's article for what it was. His wife's car was stolen. Now maybe you were so used to crime having lived in NYC that it doesn't bother you all that much. However, I'd say he is pretty darn hot because his wife's car was stolen out of their driveway and that column was a natural reaction to it. I don't blame him one damn bit. My grandparents' cars, living in NY Jackson, were the subject of three different robbery attempts. Their house was on Old Canton Road and two of them occurred in broad daylight. The last time, my Grandfather had put a kill switch in that killed the ignition. When thye couldn't start the car, they decided to bash in all the windows. My Grandparents were not rich and lived off of Social Security by the way. Our next door neighbor's car was stolen.My blood still boils over those scumbags. They had to put up their lawn furniture they had for decades in the front yard because it kept getting stolen. My Grandparents after 95 or so had to live in fear every day. The police were virtually no help. Meanwhile, you decide to lampoon him a little in your blog, which is exactly how it came across, when you should've taken it for what it was, a cry of outrage at being a crime victim. However, I guess its ok to beat up on an old white man who was robbed on a website. One thing I don't like is when people tell me the crime problem had gotten better. It might have improved but it was still a serious problem. 2 feet of floodwater is better than 5 feet of floodwater in your living room but your house is still flooded. Just becaue we don't have 100 homicides a year anymore doesn't mean we haven't had a crime problem in the last 10 years either.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-03-04T12:07:18-06:00

ID

110540

Comment

Well, neither of those articles make much sense to me. The first one, I can understand the lament that things are not like they were 50 years ago. They sure aren't. My grandmother grew up off Capitol Street near where he is talking about, and later lived on a street off Raymond Road in South Jackson until 1997 when we had to move her into a retirement home. Her dead-end street was really not safe anymore, especially for an elderly woman who couldn't get around very well. I felt like I practically grew up in that South Jackson neighborhood, because I went to stay with her a lot. I feel very sad when I drive around that part of town now and see how run-down it is and all the businesses that left. And I shake my head when I hear about things happening, crime-wise, that didn't happen in that part of town 20 years ago. But time marches on. Things change, for better or worse. I do not think we need a military presence, we only need to step up and increase the police force that is already here and pay them what they deserve. And we do need to improve roads, water/sewer, "silly" things like that in order to attract businesses to the area. Nobody wants to start their business in a run-down building with bad pipes. That is a historical fact!! ;-) As for the other article, what does sports in college have to do with anything else he wrote about? That was just bad writing, IMO. It was like he accidentally cut-and-pasted something from another article smack dab in the middle of the original one. No wonder I never read the Sun.

Author

andi

Date

2007-03-05T12:51:04-06:00

ID

110541

Comment

Kingfish, I feel bad for him because he was robbed. But it is pure bullshit to try to make it sound like Mississippi was oh-so-safe for everyone back when he was a child. That is pure denial. And people with these kinds of attitudes are driving policies (and supporting candidates) that are making our crime problems worse, not better. It is what is not said directly in this column that is so disturbing. He's an adult, and he writes a column. I am sure he can deal with criticism. I think it's funny when y'all get upset about an "old white man" being criticized as if he's a child. How condescending.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-03-05T12:55:43-06:00

ID

110542

Comment

I see everyones point on this; and think this quote from Ladd sums up where she was coming from: It is possible that the Delta was not quite as safe for everyone as it was for his family. Ladd It really wasn't safe for black folks in the Delta (or anywhere in MS) back in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. This man was probably safe to leave his doors unlocked; but, not so for every man in MS. And, he is missing the point of the National Guard coming into Southern towns to "restore order." It wasn't to crack the skulls of some gang-bangers, it was to keep the idiot white people from killing blacks while they tried to exercise their rights! But, yes the old man was lamenting a bit too about the good old days... The other letter didn't make sense, and the guy has no clue how to argue his point about sports. He is right about sports and diversity; but, wrong that that somehow relates to language preferences.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-03-05T13:02:07-06:00

ID

110543

Comment

The other letter didn't make sense, and the guy has no clue how to argue his point about sports. He is right about sports and diversity; but, wrong that that somehow relates to language preferences. Agreed. The only thing I got from it is that he likes sports and he wants everyone to speak English, damn it, even if they know other languages. Thought-provoking. ;-) You have to admit that this part is simply priceless: Different languages and other “diversities” divide, disintegrate and eventually destroy nations. That is not a personal opinion. It is an historical fact.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-03-05T13:04:58-06:00

ID

110544

Comment

ho hum http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=93657255

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-03-05T13:17:39-06:00

ID

110545

Comment

That is *some* myspace page. Wow. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-03-05T13:41:57-06:00

ID

110546

Comment

I'd love to make fun of people for making myspace pages; but, I guess I'll just admire their courage for "expressing" themselves. Not for me though...

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-03-05T13:43:57-06:00

ID

110547

Comment

I have one. its on private though. I'm not nuts. Having said that, he has some very good taste. I can't complain about that at all.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-03-05T13:45:45-06:00

ID

110548

Comment

I'm not nuts. Kingfish Great thing about blogs is you are able to voice your opinion! ;-)

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-03-05T14:18:29-06:00