Stand up for what is right

Adrienne Ross' commentary "My 4 unpopular perspectives amid George Floyd protests" expresses stunning ignorance and lack of empathy. Thankfully, her remarks are beautifully controverted by Dr. Loretta P. Prater's guest commentary of the same day "I know how George Floyd's family feels," regarding the death of her son at the hands of Chattanooga police officers.

Ms. Ross, rather than questioning the motives and sincerity of those yelling "Black Lives Matter" or arguing that white people need not take any action as long as they do no harm, please consider Edmund Burke's classic admonition that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Also, contemplate Dr. Martin Luther King's address in Atlanta in May 1967, where he said: "For those who are telling me to keep my mouth shut, I can't do that. I'm against segregation at lunch counters, and I'm not going to segregate my moral concerns. And we must know on some positions, cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there are times when you must take a stand that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but you must do it because it is right." Ms. Ross you know what is right; for once, stand up for it even if many in this community will not agree.

LES ROOS, Cape Girardeau