Important Issues
I agree that "it is ridiculous that with all our problems we have a controversy raging over the Confederate flag" (letter, Walton Windsor, Nov. 21). Let's first remember that we live in the United States of America.
In America, we are all free to do what we please as long as we do not cause harm in others. I can understand where some Americans of African descent may be offended by the Confederate battle flag.
Those same people must understand why some Caucasian Americans might be offended by the movie "Malcolm X," or by allegations that the Black Panthers were honorable and patriotic.
Mr. Windsor stated that "in truth the Confederate flag is a symbol of treason, plantation aristocracy and human slavery."
The United States existed for about 90 years, and prior to that the colonies lived under the British flag, while slavery was a part of everyday life. We still fly the United States flag, and no one seems to mind near as much when someone flies a British flag.
We must also remember that the colonists commited an act of treason when they declared their independence from the British crown. The statement from Mr. Windsor could be stated about the U.S. flag. That could be another opinion from another U.S. citizen.
That is what makes this country great. Not that after 129 years we are still arguing about the Confederate battle flag when we have so many more important problems, but that we are all free to express our beliefs.
I have 14 ancestors who fought for the Confederate States of America, and none owned slaves. I am also a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, but I do not fly the battle flag because I am not looking for a battle.
When I do fly a Confederate flag, I fly the "true" Confederate national flag, the one accepted by the short-lived Confederate government. I do not fly the battle flag out of respect for those who might be offended.
This is my choice to care about my neighbors. My neighbors should respect my right as an American citizen to display what I please.
The sooner everyone starts realizing that everyone born here is an American, the sooner we will all realize as Americans we all have a lot of freedoms that people all over the world wish they could have.
I agree that it would be in very poor taste for someone to fly a Nazi banner in a Jewish neighborhood, but I still must say that would be that person's right as an American. Granted, it would make this person seem like a racist, but it is his right.
There are real problems out there, and as long as everyone stays polarized on such trivial issues, what will the 21st century on this continent bring?
James Langley III
Baltimore
Second to None
I am disappointed with the tone of your Nov. 5 article, "UMAB chief wants to see top ratings," written by David Folkenflik.
Thanks to a tradition of excellence in teaching and research, the University of Maryland at Baltimore has produced thousands of quality doctors, lawyers, dentists, pharmacists, nurses and social workers.
The vast majority of these individuals remain in Maryland after graduation and provide an elevated degree of professionalism in their respective disciplines to your readers. It is the university's celebrated level of performance that attracted Dr. David J. Ramsay, a distinguished academician and scientists, to serve as its president.
In the future, please keep in mind the positive impact this university has made, and will continue to make, on the city of Baltimore and the state of Maryland.
If you look closely, you will see that we play second fiddle to no one.
Sylvan Frieman, M.D.
Baltimore
The writer is president of the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland.
Feeling Violated
Imagine that you are a Jewish child in public school where the majority of students are Christians. And imagine that each and every day, you must (1) listen to your classmates all sing a hymn glorifying Christ and (2) recite a Pledge of Allegiance to both your country and to Jesus Christ. How would you feel?
Wouldn't you feel as though you didn't belong and that you were not a full "American?" Wouldn't you feel violated?
If you can't imagine yourself being Jewish, then think about being a Christian born in Lebanon and being forced to pray to Allah.
Now maybe you understand how I felt as a young agnostic in public school when school prayer was practiced; I felt discarded my own community and country.
If school prayer had not been discontinued, then I would not be nearly as interested in committing myself to the betterment of our public schools as I am today.
Few people know that the phrase ". . . under God . . ." was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950s, during the McCarthy era, when we were at war with the godless communists.
Another fact that many don't know is that 10 to 15 percent of the population are agnostics or atheists.
Congress must implement a great deal of urgent and important changes which will benefit the entire country. In contrast, school prayer would only further certain congressmen's religious beliefs and should not be a legislative priority.
$Robert Bloksberg-Fireovid
Towson
New Emissions Testing System Assailed
I will not comply with the new emissions testing requirements as I understand them from the Nov. 27 article. My reasons are few but significant, not only to myself but to hundreds of thousands of other automobile owners in this state.
First, I question the validity of the Environmental Protection Agency's rules regarding such testing.
A few years ago we were told that we would have to have our automobiles tested yearly in order to reduce harmful emissions.
Those emissions have been reduced, but we are now being told that the EPA has changed their requirements and that we will have to pay more and suffer far more stringent tests.
We are told that as many as 300,000 of our vehicles will fail the new tests, and repairs could cost as much as $450.
We hear little or nothing about the vast amounts of pollutants dumped into the air around Baltimore by large industries.
I fly commercial aircraft around the area and can testify to the large clouds of often noxious industrial pollutants emanating from such places on the best of days.
I refuse to spend the money to purchase a new car or parts to satisfy a pack of bureaucrats in the EPA who are accountable to no one.
Second, the new testing will require that my vehicle be tested on a dynamometer with some faceless state employee behind the wheel. No sir, no one else drives my car under any circumstances.
I perform my own maintenance and work very hard to keep this large investment in good condition. I'm not about to turn it over to some ham-handed, lead-footed idiot to damage.
Third, I will not be in the car when it is tested and will not be able to see whether the test is performed accurately. I will not tolerate that condition.
I have observed the quality of employees at the current testing stations and doubt whether any such person will have the ability to perform a precise test accurately.
Fourth, I refuse to pay $17 to reimburse MARTA Technologies Inc. for building stations. This fee will push the cost of registering a car in Maryland well over $50 per year.
Lastly, unless special dynamometers are installed which will accommodate vehicles such as mine with full-time all-wheel drive, these vehicles cannot be tested.
These actions will put me at odds with the system and will probably cause my registration to be suspended.
I will continue to drive my vehicle, since I feel that the requirements of these programs have passed the bounds of government interference and oppressive legislation cited in the Declaration of Independence as reasons for our separation from England.
The traffic tickets will most likely cause me great problems, and I would imagine some over-zealous official will threaten to have my vehicle impounded and me jailed if I do not comply.
Welcome to the United States of America, Land of the Free, Home of the Brave and proud domain of the Unchecked Bureaucrat.
Robert N. Cadwalader
Linthicum