Richland heritage; cemetery uproar; tax abatements; black lives matter

Richland heritage

Although I was born in Richland Hills, I was raised in Haltom City and attended Haltom High School.

I must admit that I bleed orange and black and have always enjoyed seeing the Rebels get run over by the Buffalo Herd on Friday nights.

Be that as it may, it seems that some in this nation are conducting a witch hunt as a knee-jerk reaction to a terrible tragedy committed by a single deranged individual.

I stand proudly with our former rivals for their right to keep their heritage and traditions, which have absolutely nothing to do with hatred or racism.

It’s time for the idiotic race war we seem to be in to stop, and Richland High seems like a really good place to draw a line in the sand.

— Marty Renfro, Haltom City

Richland High removed the flag and Dixie years ago.

I feel my alma mater has already taken the necessary steps to appease the people. The Rebel name and mascots should be left alone.

The world cannot continue to remove everything that is offensive to some. Some will never be satisfied.

Leave our heritage and memories alone.

— Cindy Brock, Humble

Cemetery uproar

I’m sickened as I see the bigots come out of the woodwork over plans for a Muslim cemetery in Farmersville.

These same people are probably outraged when some other country doesn’t treat Christians the way they think they should be treated.

Why can’t we let someone of a different faith rest in peace after death?

Some things may need to be worked out regarding the burial procedures performed for health reasons.

But we don’t need to run screaming to the local city government meetings with rumors and nonsense.

Get the facts straight and show the rest of the world the side of our humanity that others would want to emulate instead of hate.

— W. Harold “Mac” McKinzie,

Arlington

Tax abatements

Clyde Picht’s July 30 letter (“Tax break gimmicks”) addressed very astutely a serious subject — tax abuse through tax abatements.

I can’t see any good coming from making the taxpayers in one location pay for bribing healthy businesses (or work) from another location to relocate to their city or state.

Where does the money come from?

Right out of the pockets of hard-working citizens the same as food stamps or any other welfare.

The residents of Arlington should be commended for making a generous $30 million donation to help poor General Motors.

Many of the same residents who were so opposed to the government bailout of GM when it was necessary to save the jobs of thousands in 2008 are very quiet now.

— Carl V. Flores, Grandview

Black lives matter

Folks are in the streets are carrying signs saying: “Black lives matter.” The Democrats’ lame response is: “All lives matter.”

Protesters really are saying: “Black lives should matter, but they have not mattered and largely still do not matter. Something must be done.”

In this country, the rich, or white, or both, receive different justice than the poor, or black, or both.

The same is true for every “minority.”

We all have acquiesced in this injustice for far too long.

If Democrats don’t get it, don’t speak up and speak out with fire and zeal, they won’t get minority support and neither will they get the minority vote.

— Paul R. Schattman, Arlington

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Richland heritage; cemetery uproar; tax abatements; black lives matter."