XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: jaap@yahoo.com   
      
   I found the commentary written by Eric Vickers, the black St.   
   Louis attorney, more than perplexing ("Black leaders must call   
   for civil disobedience," Aug. 20). His advocacy of civil   
   disobedience as a resolution to inertia relating to black   
   problems simply doesn’t seem to connect.   
      
   In a period where more than 5,000 young, black men were killed   
   by their peers whereas less than 100 died at the hands of the   
   law, to promote whatever Mr. Vickers may have in mind as proper   
   disobedience seems to point itself in the wrong direction.   
      
   His claimed love and admiration for such black leaders as the   
   Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson is understandable since they,   
   too, sell the idea that immediate actions, particularly massive   
   and magical government intervention, will somehow bring instant   
   solutions to the ingrained cultural problems of so many black   
   Americans; problems not solved by disobedience.   
      
   The great tragedy in our country is the plight of black   
   children. With more than 70 percent born to single mothers, most   
   of low-income status, many are destined to grow up in a   
   strangling environment. It is horrifying to consider the number   
   of black children with promise who will be cut off from the   
   chance of developing a path to success in their early years.   
   Tell me how the results of civil disobedience can even plant the   
   seeds for touching this problem.   
      
   It’s a long, tough haul to greater economic opportunity. It   
   demands understanding of the condition and the acceptance of   
   responsibility and effort. Those who aggrandize themselves by   
   selling victimhood and instant gratification served up on a   
   platter do no service in terms of resolving the issues ... and a   
   great disservice to approaching the plight of so many.   
      
   http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-to-the-   
   editor/problems-for-many-black-americans-can-t-be-solved-   
   with/article_14e248ee-ecc1-5e49-b77b-4c1613ae1c09.html   
      
       
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)