Unfair to City Schools
To the Editor:
Last night I read with dismay Tom Jeanette’s disparaging remark about becoming “part of the worst education system in the state of Tennessee” if Hickory Hill is annexed into Memphis. Today as I looked around my classroom at my eighth-graders, deep in concentration as they work on the state-mandated Terra Nova test, I re-read his quote with anger [Cover story, April 23rd issue].
I would like Mr. Jeanette, and anyone else who is quick to bemoan the “horrid state of Memphis City Schools,” to please do two things. First of all, tell me when is the last time they visited a city school, or any school for that matter? Secondly, I would like to challenge them to visit a school, or better yet more than one, and see what the schools are really like before they are so quick to pass judgment on a whole school system. Granted there might be some bad city schools, just as there might also be some lousy county schools, but in the majority of schools, you would be surprised at what you would find.
My school is a clean, friendly environment, and yes, there is real learning going on in our classrooms. Even as you try to beat us down with your negative remarks, the students and faculty continue on our journey of learning together. Mr. Jeanette’s form of negativity benefits no one; it only serves to further widen the gap between city and county residents.
If we are to continue to grow and thrive in West Tennessee, we must learn to re-direct our energies away from negativity and name-calling and towards making a better community for all of us to live, especially our children, in whichever school system they might attend.
Monique Fisher
e-mail (Memphis)
Can’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow
To the Editor:
I’ve been skimming over some of the indignant responses to the April 9th installment of “This Modern World,” and it saddens me to see that our city’s self-appointed Moral Guardians are once again trying to protect us from reality. Frankly, I don’t understand their objections. I fully respect their freedom to refuse to read a magazine they find offensive. Why do they have such a problem respecting my right to read the same magazine if I so choose? It is not the responsibility or the right of the media to safeguard our morals. That responsibility and right resides with each of us. Exercise it.
One angry letter actually accused the Flyer of corrupting the morals of our city’s youth. Excuse me? Exactly when and where was the Flyer ever billed as a children’s publication? A magazine such as this is not intended for use as a substitute for responsible parenting. Raise your children properly, teach them the morals you want them to have, and if they still insist on reading the Flyer, then you have my condolences. You may have given birth to a liberal.
Personally, I am pleased to see that the Flyer has had the strength of character not to give in to these people by printing an apology or any other such nonsense. As long as at least one publication is willing to stand up and be a voice of freedom in this hyper-conservative city, there is still hope for us. Keep up the good work.
And to any advertisers who pulled their ads as a result of this controversy, I would just like to say that I, for one, refuse to support any merchant that would condone censorship. You are better off advertising elsewhere.
Tom Williams
e-mail (Memphis)
To the Editor:
In response to the letter from Mr. Scott [April 23rd issue]: It saddens and frightens me that in this day and age there are people in this world who are so blinded by their own ignorance and bent moralistic views that they could be offended by such an obvious display of satire. Mr. Scott seems to think his perception of this cartoon was correct. I think it flew way over his head.
I found nothing explicit in the cartoon, although much was implied. There was no explicit dialogue, such as there was in The Commercial Appeal, The New York Times, etc. The backgrounds were taken from celebrated and accepted works of art (perhaps with a better education, Mr. Scott might have noticed).
Why was Mr. Scott so offended by something that was merely implied to satirize our media’s current obsession?
I, for one, applaud the editors of the Flyer for printing the cartoon. It shows that you are still upholding your (and Mr. Tomorrow’s and, chillingly, Mr. Scott’s) First Amendment rights.
Keep up the good fight.
Robert Pinet
e-mail (Memphis)
To the Editor:
Come on, fellows. The lead letter to the editor by “John-Patrick Scott” concerning the “pornographic” Tom Tomorrow cartoon was actually written by someone on your humor staff, or maybe for Saturday Night Live.
Right?
Sam Meredith, M.D.
e-mail (Memphis)
The Civil Rights Museum
To the Editor:
Again, someone who has no experience or understanding of the agony involved in the civil-rights effort wants to expand the mission of the museum to encompass efforts and individuals who had no direct involvement in the bloodshed involved in the Afro-American effort toward equality [Viewpoint, April 23rd issue].
Blacks are not trying to horn in on the Holocaust memorials because we were not at Buchenwald. When affirmative action was first alive, it was submerged under the tidal wave of white women trying to (successfully) horn in.
Basta!
John Harwell
e-mail (Memphis)
To the Editor:
While I certainly agree with Emily Trenholm’s concept of what she thinks the National Civil Rights Museum should be, Ms. Trenholm should be aware that the museum has, for several years, expanded its scope beyond the bounds of the American civil-rights movement. In collaboration with the Memphis chapter of Amnesty International, the museum has presented several art and photographic exhibits with global human-rights themes, including exhibits on the pro-democracy demonstrations in China and on the Ogoni people of Nigeria, who have suffered extensively under a repressive military regime.
In June, Amnesty International and the National Civil Rights Museum present “Art from the War Zone of Sri Lanka,” which will describe and depict the human-rights abuses suffered by the Sri Lankan population during the ongoing conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil guerrillas. This is a bloody and protracted war which is largely unknown to the American populace. …
Len Lothstein, Director
Amnesty International-Memphis
e-mail (Eads, TN)
The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 687, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at memflyer@aol.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.
Editor’s NoteSusan Ellis, who has served on the Flyer staff for nearly six years, has been promoted to managing editor. Ellis has spent the past several years revamping and expanding our entertainment coverage in the “Steppin’ Out” section of the paper. She has also served as my right-hand person, watching my back and assisting in almost every editing detail. She has earned the promotion and I am happy to be able to announce it. A letter to the daily paper last week complained about the C.A.’s policy of charging full price for classified advertisements offering pets for adoption. For our readers’ information, The Memphis Flyer offers free classified ads for pet adoption, lost pets, found pets, and free or financially assisted pet care (e.g. spaying and neutering). We are definitely pet-friendly here at the Flyer. Call 575-9445 for more information. Correction: In our HomeSmart supplement two weeks ago, we gave an incorrect phone number for the Shelby County Environmental Improvement Commission. The correct number is 387-5707. n – Dennis Freeland |