I have only been reading The Citizen for a short time, but upon reading it I came across an article that was of great interest to me, “Is there a double standard favoring blacks in racial issues?” First, I can't believe someone would be so bold as to let that statement come out of their mouth, let alone put it in print and sign their name to it.

The author claimed injustice and unfair treatment on the decision to suspend both students, but since I haven't heard both sides of the story I won't comment or pass judgment, but I will say that they apparently found just cause for the suspension of both students.

I believe Sandy Johnson fully understood the power of the press and has used it to her advantage. The boy who was suspended for hitting her has not yet told his story, and therefore it appears one-sided. Anyone can manipulate an event to portray themselves as innocent and often people cannot truly see their own faults because they lack an objective perspective.

In her testimony, Sandy looks like an angel, but think about it, would she really portray herself as the villain? No! And if she felt that she had been treated so terribly wrong, why didn't she fight the decision or appeal the ruling.

Now, to address the comments about our black television station, our black circus (both of which are singular, meaning only one), black magazines, colleges, and so on, how selfish can someone be? Aren't the other 52 channels enough for their entertainment selection?

Black entertainment is about marketing, not exclusion. There is something distinct about black culture, and therefore blacks need a television station to capture what the network stations cannot. Who says there isn't “White Entertainment Television?” What would one call CMT (Country Music Television), TNN, and the WB (excluding the one night we're given)? Where do people get off getting bent out of shape about the one hour we get on HBO?

Also, with my cable provider I receive a channel called Lifetime, Television for Women. Does it bother anyone that women are the target audience of a TV station? So why does it bother people that there is a station that targets a black audience?

In response to her statement about the “UniverSoul Circus,” I'm wondering, what does Sandy consider the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey? And who said there are not white magazines? What about the number of predominately white magazines that pervade the news stands? Do Seventeen, Cosmo Girl, Teen, or YM, ring a bell?

And lastly, she wants to knock our colleges. No one ever said a white person couldn't attend. Did it ever occur to anyone that the reason black colleges were established is because blacks were denied admission to white colleges? How could anyone object to an education just because pride in a heritage is incorporated with higher learning? Or could it just be that everyone's upset because they're arming and dispatching America's worst nightmare — an educated black nation?!

Furthermore, did it ever occur to anyone that there has never been an NAAWP (National Association for the Advancement of White People) because many other organizations, such as the U.S. Government or the Congress, already take care of the advancement of the causes of white people?

I can't help but to believe that many of the advantages were also gained through cruel and illegal tactics. Many felt no need to go through courts, yet instead rode with sheet-covered faces burning crosses in the night and identifying themselves with three letters.

Advocacy groups exist to uplift the oppressed and disadvantaged. Whites in America have not been oppressed, and as a whole represent the group with the most advantages. Minorities face discrimination, are often excluded from media, and experience obstacles in the entertainment business. Within this society, whites were born at the top, while blacks had to work there way up from the bottom, from slaves, and continually have to strive for the top today.

Just because things have improved greatly, does not mean blacks are equal. Advancement does not mean advancement to the top because of alleged superiority. Advancement is needed for those held at the bottom because of alleged inferiority. The rights, freedom, and opportunities of blacks and other minorities have been systematically denied in America. Therefore advocate groups exist. If the same were true of whites, there would be a need for similar organization.

Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed nearly 140 years ago, black people have never been free in America. All the television stations, magazines, circuses, and colleges in the world will never make up for 500 years of captivity. Maybe I've been mislead, but it seems to me that some fail to realize that the reason the NAACP (which may I mention I'm a proud member of) is constantly showing up is because they are only looking for fair and equitable treatment for races that have been denied it since the establishment of America.

So when the last man is denied a job because of the color of his skin, locked up for walking after dark, or driving while black, hanged, beaten, or dragged behind a truck, when the last church is bombed, the last cross burned, when the sheets come off, hair grows back, and the flags come down, then maybe the NAACP won't “complain” so much.

But until then, I have some advice for Sandy Johnson: Stop hating on the “biggest, baddest, boldest, blackest, big-dog” organization that has ever existed. So she can keep counting pennies, because she will be hearing more and more about the NAACP.

Elana Landry
Fayetteville

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