LETTERS: A DISTURBING POSITION

To the editor:

Like many that have read the article explaining the NAACP's position on the school bond issue, I am deeply disturbed. Their decision not to support the school bond is poorly argued. Why make this a racial issue? We all lose if this bond is not passed. What are we going to do, keep sending our kids to school until the walls fall down on top of them? As to building an oasis around the new school, this is a stupid reason not to support the bond when you consider that real estate tax is what we are using to pay for the new school and improvements in the first place. If there is an issue of the numbers of black teachers in our system, then please address it in a different forum. This is the worst possible time to be divided. What did Mr. Sterling mean when he said, "no taxation without representation?" Are there no black children in our school system? Is this for the teachers or the students.

If there are people in our community that care about our kids' education(black or white), they will support this school bond. I would hope that the local NAACP would change their position but know this is unlikely. What is possible is that responsible people will choose to ignore this attempt to make a racial issue of the school bond and do what's right. If not, we all lose.

Kevin Butler

Cape Girardeau