John P. Brooks’ Nov. 30 letter “Stay clear of rabble-rousers” reminded me of a saying from the segregated South of my youth: “If you are white, you are all right. If you are black, stand back.” All manner and means of civic force was used, legally, to keep “blacks” subservient to white rule and domination.
By this time lynching was against federal law. The white establishment had criminal law to keep segregation as the “rule of law.” Blacks were routinely shot “resisting arrest or fleeing from the police, etc.”
It is necessary to hold public servants accountable for their actions. Ferguson, Mo., is a microcosm of the distance we have to travel to embrace the axiom of our Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal.” It is a worthy goal.
Hugh Shuford
Vancouver
