Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, April 28, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-APRIL 27,20ll
Gov. Nathan Deal signed the City of Waynesboro’s new
charter into law, replacing the outdated 1971 document. In
addition, the governor approved legislation setting up stag
gered terms for members of the Burke County Commission.
Montres Kitchens led the BCHS Bear track team to a sec
ond place finish in the Region 3-AAA championship meet.
Kitchens won the region high point award for the second time.
25 YEARS AGO-MAY 2,1996
Three Democratic members of the Burke County Commis
sion had Republican opponents for the November General
Election. Scott Dumars announced he would challenge vet
eran commissioner Herman Lodge. Wayne Crockett would
oppose Ellis Godbeee and Frank Williams would face Re
publican David R. Lovett.
Chip Cochran of Waynesboro placed second in the Cadillac
Cup Golf Tour’s Sunbelt Nissan tournament. He had led the
tournament going into the final round, but a 76 forced him
into a playoff which he lost on the first hole. Cochran had
won the event in 1994.
50 YEARS AGO-APRIL 28,1971
B.A. “Jet” Beckum was named head football coach at
Waynesboro High School. He had formerly coached for four
years at Wadley where he posted the best record of any coach
in the history of that school.
Burke County voters rejected a proposal for a bond issue
to demolish the old courthouse and build a new one. The
proposal was opposed by several groups, including the Burke
County Historical Society and the Burke County Improve
ment Association.
W. Frank Fisher, manager of Perfection Industries of
Waynesboro, was named Rotary Man of the Year by the lo
cal civic club.
70 YEARS AGO-MAY 3,1951
PFC Allen Lou Rountree, 21, of Keysville, became the
county’s first casualty in the Korean War when he was killed
in action. The 1949 graduate of Waynesboro High School was
the son of Louis Rountree and was a member of the Berlin
Methodist Church.
Sixth grader Lindsey Youmans won the spring marble
tournament for the Waynesboro schools. Other top players
were Miller Hillis and Ralph Thompson.
Jones Skinner allowed only three hits while the WHS Hur
ricanes defeated Brooklet 19-4. Bobby Rhodes and Benny
Kissam led the local boys in batting with two hits apiece.
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Cte €mt Ciiisrn
9
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Telephone: (706) 554-2111 • Fax: (706) 526-4779
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Don Lively
HER
It was a dark and stormy
night.
Yes, I'm aware that that intro
has been used a million times,
but in this instance, it was actu
ally accurate. The thunder was
loud and lightning was flash
ing every few minutes. I have
no nightlights in my bedroom,
so the only light was the weak
ambient illumination from my
computer, the digital clock,
and the smoke detector fifteen
feet up on the vaulted ceiling.
At my age, nature calls several
times during the night and, sure
enough, that's what happened
this particular evening. Or,
actually it was morning since it
was well after midnight. I tried
to ignore the pangs, but after a
while, knowing that I wouldn't
be able to go back to sleep, I
gave in and got up.
I was standing in the bath
room, still half asleep, taking
care of business. The winds
were whipping and howling
around the comer of the house
and the rain was lashing the
windows. Every few seconds
the sky would flash and thunder
would follow. If I believed in
eeriness, I would have consid
ered it to be an eerie evening,
but I don't scare easily.
At least I didn't until I felt
something hot and hairy bmsh
against the back of my leg.
Now I'm not very athletic
so I'm not sure how I accom
plished it, but I ended up jump
ing straight up in the air landing
with one foot on the windowsill
about 4 ft off the ground floor,
and the other foot in the bath
tub.
Then, because I was suddenly
wide awake, I remembered.
We had just gotten a cat that
day.
I didn't realize how quiet cats
are when they move around.
The new resident, Maggie,
had followed me into the bath
room and chosen the terribly
inconvenient moment to show
her affection.
Anyway, for the first time in
many decades I now share our
living quarters with a cat.
I've never been a cat person.
Alpha male Sons of the Blessed
South are not supposed to like
cats. We had cats on the farm,
but they preferred to live out
side most of the time which
was my preference for them,
too. That way, I could play with
them outside but could leave
the sneeze-inducing cat hair
when I went inside. It was a
very convenient situation.
Apparently Maggie had a
rough history prior to coming to
live with us. She was feral for
over a year, living on her own
in a wooded urban area. She
was finally trapped and semi-
domesticated by a friend of
ours. But prior to that, she was
matted, and dirty, and skinny.
No more.
If you look up "fat and sassy"
in the dictionary, it's very pos
sible that you might find a
picture of Maggie.
She had only been with us for
about a week before it became
abundantly clear that she in
tended to take over as the leader
of the castle.
She wanted to be the queen.
Mission accomplished.
Maggie is not a follower. For
reasons known only to Maggie
and the Good Lord, she likes
to lead me everywhere, even
though I know where I'm going
and she doesn't. And because
she doesn't know where I'm
going, she just walks zig-zag in
front of me, causing me to have
to shuffle my feet and take baby
steps to avoid tripping over her
or stepping on her magnificent
tail, both of which have hap
pened on occasion. So, if you
ever hear that I have fallen and
broken a hip, I can probably
justifiably blame it on Maggie.
I've learned to tread lightly
around her.
Recently I had stripped the
bed and washed the bedclothes
and was about to make up the
bed when I noticed that Mag
gie was sitting in the middle of
the bare mattress. I told her to
move, but all she did was utter
a slight growl while not moving
an inch.
Did you know that it's pos
sible to make up a bed with a
cat sitting in the middle of if?
It is.
As I stretched and spread
the sheets, she would simply
move to the top each time. She
showed her displeasure several
times, but it never once oc
curred to her to get off for five
minutes.
That is indeed queenly be
havior.
I've just returned from an
extended road trip and as I've
been pounding out this week's
scribblings, Maggie has rubbed
against my leg several times.
It doesn't scare me anymore.
I think she missed me.
Michael N. Searles
We know the Bible says,
Thou shall not kill. There
is no reference to race in the
Scriptures and some might say,
do not kill any man. However,
the reference to killing a black
man is in the heart of the news:
Police officer shoots unarmed
black man. It would seem that
in every police department in
the United States, an order
would go out. Please do not
kill an unarmed black man to
day. However, an order of this
nature apparently has not gone
out and the police continue to
find unarmed black men to
shoot and in many cases kill.
We do not want to see any
citizen or police official killed.
Each death is a tragedy for the
affected families, the com
munity, and the nation. When
ever it is reported that another
person has been killed in the
United States, it saddens our
friends abroad and heartens
our authoritarian adversaries
who say, “This could never
happen in our country.” While
as Americans we like to see
ourselves as extremely friendly
and hospitable and we broad
cast that image abroad. We
never highlight the dangers of
living in a culture where guns
rule. We not only own guns;
we like to shoot them. Our love
affair with our guns prompted
the National Rifle Association
to offer an insurance for people
who shoot someone for $ 13.95
a month. While a visitor to
the United States can attain
Visitors Insurance designed to
cover a person when traveling
outside their home country or
country of citizenship. Visi
tor insurance is a short term
international travel medical
insurance designed to cover
medically necessary expenses
related to unforeseen injuries,
accidents or illnesses that occur
after the effective date of the
policy. There is no reference as
to the compensation provided a
visitor who is shot or killed by
the police as was the case when
an Australian woman named
Justine Ruszczyk was shot and
killed by a police officer when
she called 911 to report an as
sault near her residence.
Since a person is shot and
DO NOT KILL A BLACK MAN
killed in the United States each
and every day, the chance of
being shot is everpresent. This
is especially true for African
Americans. In 2019, there were
999 fatal shootings, with the
rate of fatal police shootings
among Black Americans at 35
per million of the population
ranging much higher than any
other ethnicity. With the deaths
of George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Ray-
shard Brooks, David McAtee,
Tony McDade, Dion Johnson,
Maurice Gordon, Jr., Robert
Johnson Jr., Dreasjon ‘Sean’
Reed, Shaun Fuhr, and Man
uel Ellis, police departments
should be on high alert not to
shoot a black man unless it is
absolutely necessary.
While the trial of Derek
Chauvin was being conducted
at the Hennepin County Gov
ernment Center Minneapolis,
Minnesota, an amazing thing
happened. With the whole
world’s eyes on Minnesota,
Officer Kimberly Potter of
Brooklyn Center just outside
of Minneapolis, a 26-year vet
eran, shot and killed Daunte
Wright, a 20-year old black
man. Officer Potter was a
training officer ostensibly at
the scene to guide new officers
in conducting proper police
procedures. The heat of the
moment, the intensity of the
situation, or the immediacy of
the circumstances may have
played a role in Officer Potter
drawing her gun rather than
her Taser. The unfortunate
result was the death of another
unarmed black man.
Americans have come to
believe that gun deaths and
mass shootings are just the
price of living in our country.
There are certain deaths we
accept as normal. In 2019.
38,000 people were killed in
car accidents just a little higher
than the 33,000 who die from
gun deaths. When people hear
about auto accidents, they do
not rush out a buy a car, but
when there is a mass shooting,
people rush out and buy guns.
We falsely believe that we can
protect ourselves with firearms.
We have lost the faith that law
enforcement can protect us
strengthen by our fear of black
men. This same fear gives law
officers the liberty to shoot first
and ask questions later. How
ever, police training is like pilot
training; it must be perfect or
people die.