Speak Out

Re "Hush yo mouth" (Editorial, Nov. 13):

This is my opinion of the person who misconstrued the definition of the phrase "bless his heart." The Star's editorial writer said that Southerners recognize the phrase as code for an insult — "a mild dismissal of someone who is not quite right."

What? An insult! Are you kidding? Are you from the South?

By the writer's definition of that commonly used phrase in the South, I have insulted almost everyone I have ever known who was having a hard time, or was in a bind of some kind.

Oh my God! I had no idea. I've insulted my mother, brothers, sister, mother-in-law, wife, etc. Oh, wait! Maybe the writer was wrong, perhaps. I don't feel guilty. Just maybe the writer was from the North.

Yeah, maybe ol' George was right — we are two regions divided by common language. I don't think "bless his heart" is code for an insult. Here's an insult: As a guy said to me the other day, "Them Democrats ain't got sense enough to git outta tha' rain." Now I knew that was code for an insult. And I feel the need to let you know that the election is over, so please leave Sarah Palin alone. Please suh.

Don Kominitsky
Anniston

Thanksgiving challenge

A biracial constitutional lawyer is pictured on the cover page of four news magazines that I regularly peruse. What does his picture suggest about race, skin pigmentation and the meaning of American?

It reminds many that the races of mankind have evolved from a common ancestral background and that the differences among races are fewer than the features shared by all human beings.

What thoughts are evoked about skin pigmentation? Are we not mindful of what is revealed by spinning a wheel on which colors of a rainbow appear? The twirling of a color wheel yields a dull white — a combination of colors with no suggestion of supremacy of any color.

What does the acclaim of the president-elect say about the meaning of America? Does it not proclaim that the newly elected president of the United States needs no modifier, followed by a hyphen, to highlight his status as an American?

One of the magazine covers asserts that "Change has come to America." Another asks, "Where does he start?" Two picture a smiling optimist with one asking a critical question: "Can Barack Obama really unite the country?" He can't without the sacrificial service of an electorate to support his audacity of hope.

If he models the statesmanship needed to bolster the meaning of America, together we can effect meaningful change. We can, yes we can. For that we can be thankful.

John A. Vanderford
Jacksonville