Page 4A,The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, August 7, 2019
Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree
Special to the Ledger
By Kate Scarmalis
The very concept of
slavery, the bane of any
rational person, defines
our Constitution’s great
American
hypocrisy. How
can a document
claim that all
men were creat
ed equal, while
some owed their
very lives and
existence to
another?
How can our
nation’s found
ers condemn
slavery while owning
slaves themselves?
George Washington,
Benjamin Franklin,
John Jay, and Alexander
Hamilton were all slave
owners. Patrick Henry,
the “give me liberty
or give me death” guy,
owned slaves.
Thomas Jefferson
condemned the injustice
of Britain’s slave trade,
yet owned slaves himself.
The tortured logic of
advocating that slavery
is a basic violation of hu
man rights, while at the
same time owning slaves,
leaves the rational mind
wheezing for oxygen.
Permitting slavery in
the land of the free made
as much sense as a trout
farm in a vat of milk.
Nothing good could
come from that.
Many of our nation’s
founders worked to rec
tify the situation. Their
actions ultimately con
tributed to the gradual
abolition of slavery in the
Northern states. Their ac
tions, however, were too
little too late. The mon
ster was
born and
allowed to
grow.
Our
country’s
past will
be forever
tarnished
by slav
ery. Once
society
condones
creating upper and lower
castes of human beings,
it inherently gives way to
racial prejudice. Where
prejudice exists, hatred is
not far behind.
Our history has been
studded by instances of
racial hatred. The case of
Emmett Till is testament
to the acquiescence of
racial disparity.
In 1955, 14-year old
Emmett Till came from
a segregated neighbor
hood in Chicago to visit
family in Money, Mis
sissippi. Emmett had
experience with prejudice
in the north, but he could
not have been prepared
for the racial hatred that
defined the entrenched
minds in Mississippi at
that time.
His mother gave him
full warning, but young
males will always view
themselves as bullet
proof.
Kate Scarmalis
PRE-K LUNCH MENU
Monday, August 12
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
Seasoned Com, Fruit, Milk
Tuesday, August 13
Chicken Nuggets, Mac-n-Cheese
Green Beans, Fmit, Milk
Wednesday, August 14
Cheese Pizza, Carrots with Dip, Fmit, Milk
Thursday, August 15
Ham Biscuit, Tri-Potato Wedge, Fmit, Milk
Friday, August 16
Fish Sticks, French Fries, Fmit, Milk
NINTH GRADE CAMPUS &
LEE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL
LUNCH MENU
Monday, August 12
Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Garlic Breadstick
or Pepperoni Pizza, Seasoned Com
Fresh Garden Salad, Fmit, Milk
Tuesday, August 13
Chicken Nuggets or Com Dog
Mac-n-Cheese, Green Beans
Breaded Okra, Fmit, Milk
Wednesday, August 14
Chicken Wings or Beef Tenders, Roll
Baked Beans
Scalloped Potatoes, Fmit, Milk
Thursday, August 15
Hot Cheesy Grits, Biscuit, Choice of Ham
or Smoked Sausage, Tri-Potato Wedge
Carrots with Dip, Fmit, Milk
Friday, August 16
Buffalo Chicken Bites, Breadstick
or Hot Dog on Bun, French Fries
Coleslaw, Fmit, Milk
The Lee County Ledger
Established August 24,1978
lcledger@bellsouth.net
P.0. Box 715 (126 4th Street) (229) 759-2413
Leesburg, Georgia 31763 USPS 470-310
Official Organ of Lee County
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Lee and surrounding counties $20.00 year
Elsewhere $25.00 year
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(USPS 470-310), is published weekly for $20.00
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Till was quite the
prankster, teasing his
cousins that he had a
white girl friend in Chi
cago. His companions,
not believing him, dared
Emmett to go into the
corner store and ask the
white woman behind the
counter for a date.
Foolishly, Till entered
the store alone, bought
some candy, and left say
ing, “Bye, baby” to the
woman. Carolyn Bry
ant, the wife of the store
owner, later claimed that
he grabbed her and wolf-
whistled at her on his
way out of the store.
Roy Bryant returned
home from a business
trip a few days later.
Hearing of how Emmett
had allegedly spoken
to his wife, he went to
the home of Till’s great
uncle, Mose Wright. He
and his brother-in-law,
J.W. Milam, removed
Emmett from the home
and took him away in
their car.
Mose Wright protested
to the extent that he
could, but in Missis
sippi at the time, he was
powerless to prevent the
kidnapping. It would
be the last that he would
ever see his nephew in
his lifetime.
Emmett Till’s assail
ants forced him to carry
a 75-pound cotton gin fan
to the bank of the Tal
lahatchie River. They or
dered him to take off his
clothes, and bound him
to the fan with barbed
wire. The two men beat
him to death, gouged out
his eye, shot him in the
head, and then threw his
body into the river.
Emmett Till’s body was
unrecognizable; it could
only be identified by an
initialed ring that he was
wearing.
Emmett’s remains were
mutilated, but his mother
courageously decided
upon an open-casket
funeral so that the world
could see what the racist
murderers had done to
her only son. After Jet
Magazine published the
photos, the mainstream
media picked up on the
story.
An all-white jury de
liberated for less than an
hour before coming forth
with a verdict of “not
guilty” - finding that the
identity of the victim had
not been proven defini
tively.
The nation peered into
the abyss of racial hatred,
exemplified by the form
of a young man whose
only crime that he was a
bit of a wiseacre.
Young men are like
that.
America has come a
long way from that time,
even Mississippi. Or has
it?
Eliminating racial
prejudice is a slow - very
slow - process. And it’s
not gone yet.
The Emmett Till Me
morial Commission was
founded in 2005 by its
committal to “offer the
first apology to the Till
family, from our county,
from our sheriff, down
to our local community
members.”
On the bank of the
Tallahatchie River where
Till’s body was discov
ered, three signs have
been erected consecu
tively. Each has been
vandalized, riddled with
bullets. The latest was
erected on June 21, 2018.
Only weeks later, vandals
shot it with four bullets.
Racial prejudice, or
rank stupidity? Or both?
Three University of
Mississippi students
posed before the bullet-
punctured sign with an
AR-15 semi-automatic
rifle and shotgun. They,
their weapons, and
their smiling faces were
posted on Instagram on
March 1 by Ben LeClere
for his fraternity brother
John Lowe’s birthday.
Well, you know - “Ole
Miss” isn’t really the
forerunner in the civil
rights movement.
Except - - one of the
alleged perpetrators hails
from our neck of the
woods. Howell Logan
graduated from the oft-
lauded Deerfield Windsor
School in 2017.
Racial hatred has an
extreme cost. So does
youthful stupidity.
US Attorney Chad
Lamar of the Northern
District of Mississippi
has referred the informa
tion to the Justice De
partment’s Civil Rights
Division, saying, “We
will be working with
them closely.”
Logan and his friends
will have their lives to
consider the consequenc
es of that one day in their
lives. Unlike Emmett
Till.
Kate Scarmalis retired
from teaching in the Lee
County School System.
She has a B.A. in Foreign
Languages, Elementary
and Gifted Education,
and an M.A. in Forensic
Psychology
Sharing the Word
Special to the Ledger
By Harry R. Martinez,
Ph. D
Really? Really!
Perhaps you recently
heard a congressman
declare that “God has
no place in Congress;
God is for religion.”
Really? Is he ignorant
concerning the found
ing and history of the
United Sates? Did not
those fleeing the Euro
pean continent risk all
to establish a new nation
where freedom would
abound in every area of
faith and life? One can
not avoid the stark evi
dence of the importance
that the founding fathers
placed on Biblical truth.
Their acknowledgment
of Divine Providence,
the Creator God, and
the tenets of Scripture
became the foundation
stones for writing the
Constitution, the Decla
ration of Independence,
and our judicial laws.
The statement voiced
by that member of the
House brings to mind
the warning spoken to
Israel by the prophet Ho-
sea. “Listen to the word
of the LORD, O sons
of Israel, for the LORD
has a case against the
inhabitants of the land,
because there is no faith
fulness or kindness or
knowledge of God in the
land. There is swearing,
deception, murder, steal
ing, and adultery. They
employ violence, so
that bloodshed follows
bloodshed. Therefore
the land mourns, and
everyone who lives in
it languishes along with
the beasts of the field
and the birds of the sky;
and also the fish of the
sea disappear” (Hos 4:1-
3 NASB). The scoffer
immediately retorts that
Hosea was speaking to
Israel. True, but long
before the Jewish nation
existed, Elihu spoke to
Job concerning God’s
impar
tiality.
“Can
he who
hates
justice
govern?
Will
you
con
demn
the just
and
mighty
One? Is he not the
One who says to kings,
‘You are worthless,’
and to nobles, ‘You are
wicked,’ who shows
no partiality to princes
and does not favor the
rich over the poor, for
they are all the work of
his hands” (Job 34:17-
19) NIV)? Therefore,
God’s condemnation,
given to the people by
the prophet Hosea, has
pertinent application
for all nations. History
may be viewed from the
perspective of Hosea’s
admonition ... “my
people are destroyed for
lack of knowledge.” The
prophet is not speaking
of what may be called
academic knowledge, for
that is rampant, and its
increase is prophesied in
Scripture concerning the
“end times.” Hosea is
speaking of knowledge
concerning the Word
of God, Biblical Truth,
learned and applied
in life. Israel’s lack of
spiritual teaching and
understanding would
result in the people
suppressing truth, ac
cepting that which was
false, abandoning the
principles on which the
nation was founded and
consequently receiving
discipline and judg
ment from God. The
prophet Amos, whose
occupation was that of a
herdsman would express
divine judgment on his
people ... “The days are
coming,” declares the
Sovereign LORD,
when I will send
a famine through
the land — not a
famine of food or
a thirst for water,
but a famine of
hearing the words
of the LORD.
Men will stagger
from sea to sea
and wander from
north to east,
searching for the
word of the LORD, but
they will not find it”
(Amos 8:11-12 NIV).
May it never be so in
these United States! The
rising voices that seek to
remove any reference of
God in the governance
of this nation will de
stroy liberty and indi
vidual freedom. They
seek to install a Godless
society that defames the
name of Jesus. Yet, it is
this Jesus who died on
the Cross for our sins
and offers to any and
all eternal life simply
on the basis of faith in
Him. The acceptance
of this Truth guarantees
an eternity with God
forever. The message
of the gospel provides
true freedom to the one
who embraces it by
faith: freedom from the
penalty of sin, the power
of sin and eventually,
the presence of sin. The
Apostle Paul wrote ... “I
am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the
power of God for the sal
vation of everyone who
believes: first for the
Jew, then for the Gen
tile” (Rom 1:16 NIV).
Our national anthem
resounds — “And this be
our motto: In God is our
trust.” Really!
Editor’s note: Dr. Mar
tinez is an ordained min
ister and was a professor
and head of the music
department at Florida
State University School
from 1975 to 2003. He
is the father of five adult
children and resides in
Lee County with his
wife, Sara.
Community Calendar
• Grief Share Class to be held at First Baptist Church
Leesburg facilitated by Chuck and Cheryl Botkin.
Class will start August 13 from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m..
Call church office for more information.
• Lee County Commissioners will meet Tuesday,
August 13 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held
at the T. Page Tharp Governmental Building, Opal
Cannon Auditorium, 102 Starksville Avenue North,
Leesburg.
• National Active and Retired Federal Employees
(NARFE) will meet Wednesday, June 21 at the
Golden Corral, 1228 N. Westover Blvd. in Albany
at 11:30 a.m with a speaker of interest. A club
officer will show attendees to the meeting room.
Lunch will be paid under the normal business for
the restaurant. Eligible people are welcome.
• Veterans join the camaraderie of fellow veterans at
the Leesburg American Legion Post 182 the first
Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at J&E Restau
rant on Walnut Ave. in Leesburg.
• The Albany Amateur Radio Club meets the fourth
Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Avalon United
Methodist Church, Albany (rear of the church).
• Albany Shrine Club business meeting is the first
Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. Ladies Night is
the third Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Cub Scout Pack 210 meets at Leesburg United
Methodist Church at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Contact
Stephen at 229-376-1754.
Harry R. Martinez
