Obama election can signal end to judgment by color

Over my lifetime of a little more than 50 years, I've seen things that have made history. Some I was too young to understand, such as desegregation, John Kennedy's election and assassination, Martin Luther King's visions and death.

Some I'll never forget -- the moon landings, the fall of the Berlin wall, the end of the Cold War, the loss of two Space Shuttles and 9/11.

As a young boy, I remember seeing crosses burning in the fields of Gamber, going to schools that had no black students because their parents were afraid to live here, and later in high school only a handfull of students were of color.

I remember using and hearing the "N" word like it was part of our vocabulary. I remember times when I was uninformed and following instead of taking my own path.

And I remember when my life changed at a philosophical level, when I learned that following the status quo would no longer do for me.

I had received my first duty assignment in South Korea and was roommates with a black man. I'll never forget him. Anthony Hartfield -- a guy from Detroit, street smart and not a bigoted bone in his body. He helped me see beyond color, and became a mentor and friend.

He was as liberal as anyone I had ever met, and living in Carroll County I don't think I had ever met one. His ideals and attitudes caused me to register as a Democrat when it came time to send in my ballot that year. I owe him a lot.

And 32 years after I met Tony our ideals and hopes have come true. We as a nation have begun to shed the old thinking and bury the things that have separated us for so long.

We still have a long way to go; there are still millions a people who hide in the closets of the Republican party that share the old ways of thinking, many are still in positions to dictate policy.

Well, the people of this country on Nov. 4 sent them a message. Change your thinking or you're doomed.

So yes, I voted for Barack Obama with pride and hope, not because he's black but because he inspired me with words and enthusiasm.

From the first time I heard his message I knew he was the man to move us forward, so while others cheer his election as our first black president and the historic moment we are living in, I never once saw it as a race-based decision.

For me, history was made more than 30 years ago when a black soldier taught a young white soldier (and uncommitted voter) the path to equality and colorblindness.

God Bless America.

Bryan Bonner

Finksburg

Police issue is yet another example of a power grab

The recent bailout of Wall Street by Congress has no constitutional authority, and the purchase of private banks by the executive branch of federal government is the definition of fascism.

Our freedoms and property are violated more every year. It is all too obvious that legislators' acts against the U.S. Constitution, their oath of office and the people's interest is seditious, and tramples on the principle of a government of the people.

Let's clean house at the next election -- federal, state and local.

This "do whatever we want" attitude, regardless of law and citizen interest, has infected all levels of government. At the local level, the Board of County Commissioners last year gave us an opportunity to force them to follow constitutionally-limited government.

The commissioners tried to convince us how we needed an unconstitutional county police force with an appointed chief under their control. Many citizens stopped the commissioners in their lust for centralized power by demanding a referendum, and were successful in convincing the Maryland legislature to adopt the referendum.

My research tells me the ordinance to create a county police force violates the Maryland Constitution Declaration of Rights, Articles 2,4,5,8, and the U.S. Constitution at Article 4 sec. 4.

There is virtually no support for this expensive redundancy of law enforcement. Obviously, the commissioners knew this, otherwise, why on Aug. 7 did they defer their own ordinance? They did so to avoid their embarrassment and political destruction of the referendum. They were obviously expecting an overwhelming vote against their corrupt grab for power.

Thank God the thinking people in this county understand their constitutional right to vote for our own law enforcement chief, the Sheriff.

So now, the commissioners want to drive the final nail in the coffin of their political careers by starting the whole shove-it-down-the-throats-of-the-public process over again.

Now they have a new task force to look at the whole thing.

Pay attention, attend public hearings, tell your neighbors again. (I am forming a group to work against this proposal; contact me at 410-374-2590.). Finally, look at the county Web site, ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/ccpd/default.asp, and you can see what has been presented and view all the meetings.

We must stop this grab for power and vigilantly maintain constitutionally-limited government.

George Otto III

Westminster

Notion of minority quotas is discredited excuse

It was with astonishment and despair that I read Hoby Wolf's column of Nov. 12 ("With Obama's victory, should racial quotas become history?" Nov. 12, The Eagle). I'm unsure which position he took that caused my eyes to pop the most.

Was it that he asserted that his son missed an employment opportunity because Maryland State Police hired a less-qualified minority? Or was it his insinuation that banks deliberately overlooked poor or nonexistent credit scores of minorities, thereby causing our current financial mess?

In the case of his son's failure to obtain a state police position, Wolf must have inside knowledge of all the applicants, including ethnic heritage. Without that, how can he suggest that there was not a minority applicant better qualified than his son?

This is a discredited myth still referenced in racially-charged conversation -- without knowing all the applicants, there are those who claim jobs are being stolen by minorities who cannot possibly be more qualified.

Mr. Wolf then uncorks the preposterous suggestion that the economic crisis is the fault of banks that loaned money to unqualified minorities.

I do not know Mr. Wolf personally, but his views -- that minority troopers got there ahead of more qualified candidates, and that banks who loaned to minority borrowers are to blame for the financial meltdown of our economy -- seem to me more than a little intolerant. To me, they carry the odor of bigotry.

Shame on The Westminster Eagle for printing such garbage.

David Croghan

Westminster

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