Starbucks arrests recall ’60s sit-ins
We have all probably read about the fiasco in the Philadelphia Starbucks recently. Two black men were peacefully arrested for refusing to leave a Starbucks coffee shop.
Some people say, “Well, they broke the rules and refused to leave when ordered by the management!”
It reminded me of the peaceful sit-ins by brave black men and women in the South at lunch counters back in the 1960-era of segregation in the South. They broke the rules, were arrested and taken to jail, too.
Guess some people in the North have a lot yet to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s teachings!
Ellen Campbell, Rossville
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Eye on the Left gets reader push-back
In a recent Chattanooga Free Press “Eye on the Left” editorial, the writer should get his facts straight.
Jimmy Kimmel did apologize to Sean Hannity via Twitter and also on TV admitting he should not have made a joke about Melania Trump’s accent. Also to say press and TV people did not say negative remarks about Michelle Obama and her daughters is a blatant lie.
The former first lady was criticized not only for putting together a healthy eating program for kids but also was called many nasty names about her color and appearance. Her teen daughters were called classless about wearing short skirts, making faces and not acting proper.
We have a president who bullies anyone who might disagree with him, gives them nasty nicknames on social media, TV, radio, billboards, tells blatant lies every day and, unfortunately, his wife and child get in the line of fire by media. It is wrong. Obama did not waste our time negating trash and gossip.
Free Press, get your facts straight. No fake news.
J. Hayes, Hixson
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Help your community by donating blood
I wish to praise the Times Free Press and many other local media outlets for their publicity of and advocacy for volunteer blood product donations to local and regional communities.
I was deeply moved by a card I received recently which tells the story of Tynece Babbs, a precious child who was profoundly helped by platelet donations. Platelets are helpful to combat a large number of situations patients endure such as chemotherapy, trauma, surgery, transplant operations and more.
My ability to donate platelets once or twice a month to Blood Assurance in Hixson is as much of a blessing to me as it is to the recipient.
Please give blood. And please do so especially during times of supply stress.
Harry Geller
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A Bush remembrance and contrast in times
It was in the 1990s, and I was a pilot on a commercial flight from Houston to Washington National (now Reagan) Airport. A few minutes before pushing from the gate, two police cars escorting a limo came across the ramp and stopped at the bottom of our jet-way. Out stepped then-First Lady Barbara Bush and Chief of Staff James Baker.
Moments later a Secret Service agent popped into the cockpit, introduced himself, took a look around and quickly left. Later on our trip, the first flight attendant visited and asked what we wanted for breakfast. (This was in the ’90s, remember.) Knowing that the first lady was on board, I quipped, “I’ll have what she’s having.” A few minutes later, I was served a plastic foam bowel of corn flakes and a stale doughnut.
Mrs. Bush and James Baker were unassumingly sitting three-abreast in Coach! My, but how times have changed.
Denny Pistoll, Rising Fawn, Ga.