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GregStevens,Publisher Chip Thompson, Editor EDITORIALBOARD How to have your say: Letters must be signed and provide the writer's home street address and home phone number. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and no more than two double-spaced pages or 500words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section will be published. Email: editor@ redbluffdailynews.com Fax: 530-527-9251 Mail to: P.O. Box 220, 545 Diamond Ave., Red Bluff, CA 96080 Facebook: Leave comments at FACEBOOK.COM/ RBDAILYNEWS Twitter: Follow and send tweets to @REDBLUFFNEWS WhenStarbucks CEO Howard Schultz recently started a new campaign to en- courage race con- versations between his baristas and cus- tomers, it certainly caught my atten- tion. However, he has already changed his plan because of excessive and sometimes ex- treme reactions, especially through all that social media. But, I still think it's a good idea. I am now married to an intelligent, beautiful, black woman named Roleeda. First, I was married to a Cauca- sian lady. That didn't turn out as I had hoped. I probably would not enjoy seeing that marriage analyzed if I saw it through my ex-wife's eyes ei- ther. I believe that inside all relationships, it must take two to tango with for the rest of one's life. My wife and I have talked about those young men who dress and do not use their hip bones the way we would prefer them to. I personally believe one's hip bones can help keep a person's pants in a more appropriate place. As you know, some are now wearing their pants way be- low their very own buttocks. Go figure. My first experience with racism was with my own fa- ther when I was only 11 or 12 years old. On a sunny af- ternoon a black childhood friend of mine got off the school bus to play with me at our home a dozen miles out of Chico. Much later, when my dad came home and the boy's parents had taken him away, my dad immediately called me, "Sonny." He only called his three sons by "Sonny" when we would make a bad, bad mistake. He guided me to our front porch where he said; "Do you know what you just did?" "No, dad," I replied. He said; "You took that boy into our kitchen and let him have a drink of wa- ter out of our glasses. Those are the glasses we use." I did not respond to him because I knew it would push him over the edge. As a child then I did not have the courage to ask "Why?" I would certainly like to exhume him and ask him that today. Last week I met and gained a new close friend, 19-year-old Aliyah Williams. She is black, very mature and already accomplished. I asked her to help me with this col- umn and she submitted this: "Ignoring the flaming sub- ject of racial division does not extinguish it. If anything it allows it to fester and grow. When it comes to the topic of sharing conversations about race, I personally believe to- day's society makes such a subject necessary. The idea of separation and classifica- tion based on race is man- made. But it seems that the ones that created it are the most afraid of these conver- sations. Starting this conver- sation with a stranger can as- sist in opening many minds. Placing people in a situation and opening up about what makes them uncomfortable could be very good. We can only make each other better by coming together as one." What bull's eyes Aliyah hits. Anyway, as I promised you last week, here's my weekly movie review you'll get from now on at the end of each col- umn. I saw "The Gunman" star- ring actor Sean Penn, who rarely disappoints me. This time he had me on the front of my seat as his character faced both the violence in the Congo and as he rediscovers a past love. If you decide to see "Gunman," let me know if you agree. Remember, viewer discretion is advised. StanStathamserved1976- 1994 in the California Assembly and was a television news anchor at KHSL-TV in Chico 1965- 1975. He is president of the California Broadcasters Association and can be reached at StanStatham@ gmail.com. My take Openingupon conversations about race On a sunny afternoon a black childhood friend of mine got off the school bus to play with me at our home a dozen miles out of Chico. Much later, when my dad came home and the boy's parents had taken him away, my dad immediately called me, 'Sonny.' Differentperspectiveon homeless Editor: The opinion of Kelly Walen on March 28 deserves a different perspective. How many paychecks are any of us away from not paying our rent or meeting our mortgage payment? How many home eq- uity loans or unscrupulous pay- day loans will it take to keep us sheltered in event of a natural di- saster, or even simply losing our job because the mill shut down, or our employer just couldn't pay us? How many of our choices were "good" as opposed to "crappy?" How many of us were able to go to college because we were en- dowed with the necessary apti- tudes for higher education to- gether with the opportunity to pay for living and tuition and books? How many of us were lucky enough to be born when there was a working class and a middle class instead of a chron- ically unemployed — economi- cally warehoused due to tech- nology and worldwide depres- sion — class and an obscenely rich class? One other class: Our young men and women who entered the armed forces not only because of their patriotism but also because there were no jobs for them. So many of them wander our streets, maimed in spirit and mind by the awful sights they have seen in their tours of duty. Some come home forever wounded by the war they were called to fight. Finally, I don't think we have police stations full of "useless cops" whom Ms. Walen will no longer call. I know that if she has a real need for the Red Bluff Po- lice Department or the Tehama County Sheriff's Office, they will respond and properly do their job. I do hope she will call them when she needs them. My personal sense of how to think about the people who have no home to shelter them is to obey the universal bidding to treat my neighbor as I would like to be treated because there, but for the grace of God, I go. — Dorothy Breitegger, Red Bluff Regarding the homeless Editor: Tehama County is comprised of a variety of people, the econ- omy has affected several citizens of various ages, ethnic cultures and from various occupations. To have empathy for our fel- low citizens here in California, I do have sympathy for others — our citizens that face obsta- cles due to higher prices of hous- ing and food —and this is upon all of us. To work for PATH or any or- ganization to assist citizens in need of housing and food and necessities is rewarding to me. I support Pastor Brad and Sue, Beth and Randy with a mission to be a helping hand in this com- munity. To reach out and be sup- portive of citizens here in Red Bluff is awesome. Job losses due to company changes and higher prices is not a citizen's fault. It is my belief that no many is an island. I am truly blessed that Allene and her husband support our fel- low and lady human beings, as well Pastor Brad and Sue, Beth and Randy to feed our fellow Americans, people of all ages and their pets. I was a flood survivor from Dairyville and extend warm heartfelt appreciation to Church Without Walls and all the unself- ish acts of kindness for other fel- low human beings here at home in Red Bluff. When you can be a positive solution to any problem in your community, be a helping hand like those leaders we have here and their volunteers. Be a part of the solution, the time is now. — Ana Shaw, Red Bluff What's wrong with our education Editor: If you want to know why our schools are failing, go to one of our schools and spend the day volunteering, or you can prob- ably get the idea within the hour. I work two hours a day at a local elementary school where I see first hand how children are treated and talked to on a daily basis. One little first-grader re- alized within one minute of the bell ringing that she left her coat in the classroom. She asked her teacher to open the door and was told, "No, you are never ready and you leave ev- erything to the last minute." The little girl came to me and was crying and said she left her coat and her box of tissues as she was cold and sick. I asked the teacher if she could get her coat and I also was told no, that she could get it tomorrow when she comes back to school. How much trouble would it have been for this teacher to have opened the door so the lit- tle girl could get her coat? To- morrow, she will have to come to school in the cold, without her coat. This is just one scene played out several times through the day multiplied by the 15 teach- ers at this school. A group of kids in the after school program was running around a small grass area and grabbed a pole and twirled around it, only to have a teacher walking by start yelling about "it's against school rules" in the child's face. There was an adult stand- ing there waiting for the stu- dents to get drinks of wa- ter and use the bathroom. The teacher could have politely ad- dressed her and told her about the school rules. There was no need to yell at the students. Are our teachers so stressed out over Common Core curric- ulum and underpaid that they forget why they are teachers? If they are teaching because they want to earn lots of money, have an 8-5 job and be re- spected by upper management, they are in the wrong job. I was an educator for almost 30 years and when I started feeling like those teachers act, I left and chose another line of work. But, because I love kids and love learning, I do this mi- nor part-time position to give back. But, I truly feel these kids are not being given the re- spect and teaching quality they deserve. — Sandra Burkett, Los Molinos Your opinions Cartoonist's take When we were teenagers, my "the South's gonna do it again" younger brother bought into some weird conspiracy theory that Gen. Robert E. Lee didn't really surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Lee sup- posedly thought he was merely handing his sword over to some- one for cleaning. The deniers who concocted the theory ap- parently also believed that Euro- peans never really landed in the New World but just filmed it out in the desert somewhere. I rush to get this into print because April 9 marks the 150th anniversary of Lee's surrender, which for all intents and pur- poses ended the American Civil War. One must be careful to spec- ify "the American Civil War," be- cause civil wars remain a dime a dozen around the globe. Thank goodness we'll never see an- other "brother against brother" conflict in this country. No, it would be "brother against sister trapped in a brother's body" or "blue against gray trapped in a turquoise uniform" or... *Ahem* Well, at least there's no more chance of a full-blown War Between the States, with all its sacrifices and upheavals. Or is there? "Please. We'll wear rags on our feet and eat rat-on- a-stick! Just please ignore our neighbors and give our state that professional sports fran- chise." The string of 150-year mile- stones over the past four years has given teachers an opportu- nity to excite students about his- tory. Many young scholars have had a lot to learn. "That march- ing song 'Eatin' Goober Peas' — it goes all the way back to Hoo- tie and the Blowfish, doesn't it?" Yes, students have learned to pay rapt attention to descriptions of the horrors of war. "Yeah, yeah — amputated legs, shrapnel in the eyes...we want to hear about the coping mechanisms of the poor soldiers who had their tex- ting thumbs amputated." People from all parts of the country have been interested in the Civil War sesquicentennial, but Southerners have probably been more passionate. A disturb- ing number of Yankees just can't fathom lingering southern pride and animosity. "Why can't they just get over it? Hey, is that Benny Dinglewicz coming out in his front yard? That *&%$# scratched my snowplow back in '93. He's dead to me, I tell you — dead." After sesquicentennial festiv- ities die down, we'll hear less and less about regiments, block- ades, ironclads, raids, massa- cres, charges, campaigns and the like. People suffering from vicarious combat fatigue will welcome the change, but others will suffer withdrawal. "It was nice to hear about a few 'cam- paigns' that the Koch Brothers didn't have any money in." Civil War reenactors will find slimmer pickings, but the more dedicated ones will still pour their hearts into their hobby. Maybe drifting public atten- tion will at least weed out some of the ones who didn't really be- long. I mean, if you think "seces- sion" was how your new niece entered the world, you proba- bly shouldn't be a Civil War re- enactor. In a perfect world, inter- est in the Civil War would now segue smoothly into wide- spread acknowledgment of the sesquicentennial of various Re- construction milestones; but I don't see that happening. It's a shame. Reconstruction lasted 12 years, cost millions and pro- duced uneven results. "Tell me about it," lamented one aging actress. Go out and celebrate hero- ism and peace on April 9. But be careful about handing over your keys to a valet parking at- tendant. It could be a trick. "The South did it again. D'oh!" Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at tyreetyrades@aol. com and visits to his Facebook fan page Tyree's Tyrades. Danny Tyree 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War Stan Statham OPINION » redbluffdailynews.com Thursday, April 2, 2015 » MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A6