Same Color

I think it is just wonderful that we finally have a "historic" president. It really bothers me, though, to hear on TV some of the newscasters who keep saying, over and over, "What does the world think of an African-American president?"

President-elect Barack Obama will more likely get this country back to the way it used to be. But it does not matter what color you are -- we all bleed the same color. I am white, and in God's eyes we are the same.

I believe some people ought to clean up their own backyards and start looking in their closets. I have black Americans in my family, and I am not ashamed to tell it.

I know there will be some in this world who speak badly about our president. Instead of speaking badly about him, the world needs to get down on its knees and pray for him.

This world is in a mess. We all need to pray.

DEBBIE REICH

Winston-Salem

Unhappy

If Tony Heath and others in Stokes County as well as Ace Hardware in Greensboro are so unhappy with our democracy ("Stokes man inverts U.S. flag to protest Obama's election," Nov. 8), perhaps they'll do us all a favor and move to another country.

How immature and '60ish to turn a flag upside down and deface it with an "X."

SUE ELLEN MOSS

Winston-Salem

Our Greatest Asset

As we celebrate Nonprofit Awareness Month, I hope that we can all agree that educating our children is not a conservative or liberal matter.

There's no time like the present to put new energy behind early childhood education. We've already discovered the immense benefits to education beginning at birth. The gap that exists in our elementary schools indicates that we haven't put enough resources toward providing quality early education to all of our community's children. It's not just the families that can afford to pay whose children deserve a smart start. Let's put aside our political affiliations long enough to create lasting change by educating our youngest children, from birth until they are ready for school.

In today's economy, we can no longer afford to implement solutions after the fact. By investing early we ensure that our children's education, perhaps their greatest asset, will not be compromised. Although the polls are closed, it's never too late to choose a brighter future for our children. In honor of Nonprofit Awareness Month, Smart Start of Forsyth County salutes all advocates for children.

KARATHA SCOTT

CHAIRWOMAN, BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SMART START OF FORSYTH COUNTY

Winston-Salem

Partisanship

This presidential election confirms the greatness of American freedom, in fulfilling Martin Luther King's dream and affirming the dedication and sacrifice of our forebears to the proposition that all people are created equal. This victory was a long time in coming, because humans are basically partisan, often living in segregated enclaves or tribes, with aristocrats contending against barbarians or ethnic groups seeking to dominate or exterminate outsiders.

Segregation is reflected in the story of Satan inducing Adam and Eve to oppose God; it also occurs throughout the Bible and history of mankind. Partisanship is the Achilles' heel of human society. Prophetic leaders like Jesus warn of this innate human failing, known by theologians as original sin.

Conflicts over gender preferences are rampant in America, with political partisanship devastating our economic system as special interests seek advantages and school alumni from sororities and fraternities fanatically support differing teams and religious denominations. These divisions are not transcended by the election of a black American president.

This spiritual ailment must be healed in each community and generation by people committed to the sustenance of gracious motherliness in the eternal fatherliness of our Creator, realized in living the amazing fellowship revealed in Christ's oneness.

JAMES R. "JIM" HELVEY

Winston-Salem

Enlightened

Someday, will we bulldoze concrete to plant corn? Someday, will China trade a computer for a box of corn flakes; will Saudi Arabia trade oil for water? In other parts of the world, clean water is the difference between life and death.

Our land-use and transportation plans must address environmental issues at this time of increasing population pressures on a declining natural-resource base, widespread ecological destruction, increasing pollution and climate change. The long-term survival of the planet as a vehicle for sustained human occupation in anything other than a degraded lifestyle is in some doubt. Warnings to stay indoors on "code orange" and "code red" poor air-quality days paint a pretty clear picture of our future if transportation planning continues as it has for the past 50 years.

North Carolina agriculture produces $68 billion annually. Fields feed us, and combined with woodlands they are a visual pleasure, provide recreation opportunities and contribute to clean air and water. Heart of the Triad plans include no provisions for farmland preservation; how foolish.

Enlightened land-use and transportation planning includes protection of environmentally sensitive areas, farmland, wildlife habitat and open spaces while encouraging infill redevelopment. N.C. planners are responsible for getting it right!

CATHY M. POOLE

Kernersville

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