Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Careful about slinging racist label about

I am writing in response to the letter from Larry Foster to the editor [“Reader: Lynch-ed by column about schools,” The Citizen, Jan. 28, 2004].

Rather than disputing or disagreeing with the “facts” that Mr. Lynch stated in his article, Mr. Foster (within his first four words) has chosen to take the easy way out and automatically labeled Mr. Lynch as a “racist.”

I think a more realistic description of Mr. Lynch would be a “realist.” As someone who professes to be a teacher, I’m surprised that Mr. Foster would succumb to this knee-jerk reaction.

Having moved from Clayton County to Fayette County three years ago, I guess I fall under Mr. Foster’s description of one of them “racist white flighters.”

Am I a racist? Well, I don’t know. According to Mr. Foster, I am. Mr. Foster states, “As long as the school board was all white, the superintendent white, the county commissioners all white, the water authority all white, the police department, the fire department all white, the racists in this county had no reason to leave.”

Mr. Foster did not say how long he has lived in Clayton County. For myself, I have lived and worked in Clayton County for over 25 years, and I know for a fact that all of these agencies were not all white! It seems again, that Mr. Foster has chosen to disregard the facts.

For myself, my reasons for leaving Clayton County were simply a matter of economics. Due to years of poor political leadership, a continually watered down zoning ordinance, and disregard for the master plan, I found living standards declining rapidly, along with the value of my main investment, that being my home.

My choices were simple. I could stay, and continue to lose more money on my home, or I could get out with what I could. I chose the latter. If that makes me a racist, then so be it.

Mr. Foster should use a little more caution before labeling someone as a racist (a word he uses quite freely.) I would remind him that not all whites are racists and not all racists are white.

Richard O. Braun

Fayetteville, Ga.