MiddletownJournal.com

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see political correctness triumph over common sense again. That seems to be the trend in American society today, and Don Imus is the latest to taste the poison. His comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team were silly and pointless, but really, who did they hurt? Not only that, let's consider the delivery of the message: Do you think if Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock or Martin Lawrence had publicly uttered the same message, anything would have been said? But that only shows us all where we are these days.

(We are) A society overly concerned with what everyone else says or thinks, and not focused on our own task at hand. Do I, as a Caucasian European-American, give a damn what anybody says about my race, gender or ethnicity? No. I care about keeping a roof over my family's head and putting food on the table. (And by the way, I don't need all those modifiers to describe myself. I'm just a plain, old American.)

If Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan or any other racist, self-centered public figure wants to run white guys down the road, fine. If that's the case, any person who chooses to run blacks down the road should be afforded the same opportunity without fear of losing their job ...

Race relations will continue to deteriorate until political correctness dies. Whites will continue to talk about blacks behind their backs, and the blacks will continue to berate whites behind their backs and in public (because that's legal). Ironically, it generally is the liberal faction of society that nurtures political correctness. The same group of people who scream "First Amendment" when Sharpton and his ilk want to preach their particular brand of hatred are the same ones wanting to stifle average white people who are tired of it. Until freedom of speech is granted to all, unconditionally, this sort of thing will continue. I don't see that happening any time soon.

Chris McIntosh

Middletown

'Vilified on pizza box'

I read that Karen's Pizzeria is putting pictures of deadbeat dads on their products and that these "Pizza box pics draw protests."

Have you ever gone to pick up your child — for your first, third, or fifth weekend — only to be blocked by a vindictive ex-wife and a screen door — with your child on the other side crying to see you?

Parental alienation by the custodial parent happens much more often than nonpayment of child support by the noncustodial parent; yet Karen's Pizzeria and the Butler County Child Support Enforcement Agency don't seem to care about that.

The time spent with a child is as important as the money spent. Children need both parents. And they don't need a parent to be vilified on a pizza box.

Don Mathis

Sherman, Texas