Mississippi SCV Plates
From: VAPROTO@aol.com
To: patriot1861@yahoo.com
Dear Mr. Lauret:
The great columnist Patrick Buchanan once said that his first editor told him never to use all embracing statements such as everyone wants or no one wants, all people or no people, and so forth. Why? Because as a mere human being, Buchanan could not possibly know what everyone (or no one) wants or doesn’t want regarding anything. As a result, if Buchanan used such rhetoric, he stood to lose his credibility with his readers
and therefore, his usefulness to the publication about to hire him. This sensible advice tends no longer to be followed in journalism.
In the instant case, the writer who said that "black Mississippians are not crazy about…" states something he cannot possibly know with any accuracy. By saying "black Mississippians" sans any defining characteristics – liberal black Mississippians or black Mississippians who belong to the NAACP – the author has, in fact, used the rhetoric which Buchanan’s wise editor advised against and thus destroyed his own credibility. As you also pointed out, can the writer possibly know what ALL black Mississippians want or don’t want – and is it in fact possible for any group of people to have a single opinion on such an issue, pro or con?
Finally, not to appear (horrors!) in any way "racist", since when do we structure the behavior of the majority around the desires of the minority – and by that I mean ANY minority. If a majority of Mississippians want an SCV plate, why should they be denied that simply because the majority of that majority is white and the majority of a dissenting minority is black? We at least used to govern following the will of the majority always taking into account the RIGHTS of the minority. But this is not a matter of "rights" but of "preference". If I prefer that these plates not be issued, I have the right not to purchase one. But I do NOT have the right to demand that they not be made
available to folks who DO want to purchase them. That’s how the system works – or at least how it USED to work. Now, however, with political correctness firmly in the driver’s seat, society has become the tryanny of the "protected" minorities (racial, ethic and ideological) running roughshod over the rights of the majority who want nothing more than that their will be done – ESPECIALLY in such innocuous matters as specialty license plates!
We have become a nation of moral cowards and wimps, bowing down when confronted by people who demand that their viewpoint – however erroneous and, yes, bigoted – be obeyed "or else". If we are not willing to stand
up for our rights against insults and petulance, what hope will there be when the real tyrants finally step forth to enforce their "rules"? How long before surrender in the face of criticism becomes surrender in the face of guns? Not long, I believe.
Valerie Protopapas
