As church goes, so does valued history
Friendship Baptist Church — the sacred space of Atlanta’s fight for civil rights for the past 150 years — is being demolished. Founded by former slaves, Friendship Baptist is the mother church that gave birth to nine other black congregations in and around Atlanta. It is the birthplace of Spelman College and Atlanta University, host to Morehouse and home church of Maynard Jackson Jr.
The steadfast sanctuary was key to not only to the civil rights fight in Atlanta, but the world. It will be razed to make way for a new, publicly subsidized football stadium. To see the church now, desolate, with some of the stained glass windows already removed, is like looking at a corpse at a visitation, a visage of someone loved, with a great spirit that has already departed.
Our city should be in mourning, but most people in Atlanta don’t even know what we’ve lost — our oldest friend, who stood and fought with us from the days just after the Civil War until now. … This treasure of our richest and most admirable history will be buried without fanfare, paved over by a private-public partnership that will probably make someone very rich, but leave the vast majority of people in this city impoverished, losing not only income, but their brilliant history as well.
This is a sad day in this city. We might celebrate a new civil rights museum, which is wonderful, but it’s tragic to be losing the one friend who really should be at the opening with us.
MOLLY READ WOO, ATLANTA
SNAP rules favor illegal immigrants
If you lose your income and have no other way to eat or put a roof over your head, and you worked all of your life or you have a family but no income, beware. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program guidelines are written to prevent you from getting food assistance. Federal law states that if you do not pay rent or a mortgage, you cannot receive food stamps. … However, the illegal’s child born on American soil can receive benefits from our tax dollars; thus the illegals obtain assistance via the children. That’s one reason illegal children are being dumped across the border. It’s your money. The federal government is subsidizing illegals while Americans starve to death. Our jobs are being deleted; our medical system is being destroyed. We’re being culled.
LINDA WRIGHT, ATLANTA
Mexico must deal with border issue
To stem the tide of illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson needs to acknowledge one important fact: Mexico refuses to deal with its immigration problem. Immigrants from Central America pour through the southern borders of Mexico and are then funneled toward the northern border and into this country. Demand that Mexicans stop the flow of illegal immigrants at their own borders. They make their problem ours, and then criticize our actions. Enough.
MICHAEL FEDACK, ATLANTA
