The Daily Tar Heel
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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

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The Daily Tar Heel

Letter: protesters deserve praise for courage

TO THE EDITOR:

Regarding the Ferguson protests, there were some letters sent that may have been narrow-minded in understanding the cause.

Those writers were quick to assume the police officer who killed a black man acted properly, and there would justly be no charges. The writers of those letters probably never tried to stand in the shoes of a black person, especially a black youth.

The students who grew up and continue growing up in wealth are making judgments too quickly.

Those of you who put your bodies down on the ground in support of justice to stop these military police in the country have my highest respect. I am proud and thankful for those of you who stand up to the rich, corporations and a disengaged government.

I am white. I believe that anyone born on this planet has a right to live in it. My understanding is that the National Guard protects people from any natural disaster. The National Guard is now shooting people with guns, rubber bullets, dangerous sprays and more. The National Guard was never meant to be side by side with the new authority of military police to bring people down.

The National Guard is using tanks, guns and chemicals on this home soil — along with the new war-attired local police departments — to attack peaceful protestors.

If I want to march for peace and am just marching, the Constitution says I can do that. If I march on the streets and the local police try to kill me with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and more, who is there to protect me?

How unfair it is to be a person of color, an immigrant or a veteran in this country that once sought to protect the common man to have a good life. We must find that road again and follow it.

Estelle Leighton

Saxapahaw, N.C.

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