Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/307722
6 MAY 7-13, 2014 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Dear Editor: After reading your article I have to respectfully disagree with you concerning Clive Bundy. This man was breaking the law. He owed almost $1 million in grazing fees to the federal government. Two court cases ruled in the BLM's favor that Bundy owed the money. Other ranchers were paying their grazing fees and wanted no part of Bundy. Could the BLM have handled this situation better? Yes they could have — and Bundy could have done the same. When you have Bundy supporters pointing guns at federal officers from sniper positions on bridges and talking about putting women and children in the line of fire, that is being a coward. If you want to take on the feds in a gun battle, leave the women and children at home and fight like a man. Everybody except a few people ended up running far away from Bundy this past week because of his racist rant wondering if African Americans would have been better off being slaves than getting government assistance and how black men today did not learn how to pick cotton. You mentioned our Congress has a 9 percent approval rating. Who's fault is that? It's our fault — the people — because we keep sending the same representatives back to Washington every election cycle. If we want change we have to do a better job selecting our representatives but we both know how hard that can be because a politician will tell you a lie in a minute. You can go to Washington with good intentions of change but once you get up there and see all the perks and privileges that come with being a U.S. Congressman or U.S. Senator you will fall right in line behind your party and nothing gets done for the people. This country is so divided right now and it's getting scary. We need to get our act together and fast. — Lamonte Smith Bill: The rancher was and had been grazing his cows on public land, meaning it belongs to all Americans and the use and control of it is assigned to the BLM. That agency for years had been trying to get Bundy to remove his cows and he had always refused. The law of the land specifically does not provide exceptions for geezers who claim grandfather rights where none exist. The grazing rights on those particular public lands were revoked some years ago to preserve an endangered tortoise species. But you know this, I am sure. The people that came to Bundy's defense thought they were being protectors of Bundy's constitutional rights when in reality the Constituion is rather specific about obeying the law which they, in their open opposition to federal agents were not doing. — Dave Wilson Dear Editor: More than 100 years ago in 1911, Booker T. Washington made this statement: "There is a class of colored people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs. There is a certain class of race-problem-solvers who don't want the patient to get well." When you see a so-called black leader on TV in a $2,000.00 suit remember this statement. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and their various state level clones are here for the money. They have enriched themselves on the real and imagined miseries of Black people. The money making tactic is as classic as it is timeless. First you wait for a legitimate grievance to emerge. Then you position yourself to the oppressor as the only person to speak for the aggrieved. The ensuing payoff to make the troubles go away has to pass through your hands. Not only does the "leader" take his cut but forever more he or she will be the person the oppressor comes to solve any problems. This is the scheme that has turned Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and their ilk into millionaires. Sadly, legitimate people who step up out of civic duty to solve problems have been cast aside. Why we as a people ever give these charlatans the time of day is a mystery to me. —Tony Long LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Political Correctness Part Two SUMMER CAMPS AT MU STEM Camp (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) June 16-20 | Grades 6-8 | 8:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. CSI Forensic Science Camp July 7-11 | Grades 6-8 | Half-Day Camp July 14-18 | Grades 9-12 | Half-Day Camp Environmental Camp July 7-11 | Grades 6-8 | 9 a.m. – Noon Summer Jam! Music Camp July 7-12 | Ages 11-18 | Day Camp and Residential Camp For more information on summer academic and music camps, please visit methodist.edu/summer. For information on summer athletic camps, visit mumonarchs.com or call 630-7175. methodist.edu | 910.630.7000 facebook.com/MethodistUniversity Ad_UCW_Summer Camps.indd 1 4/29/14 2:48 PM