And then I wrote...
by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus
... that I know it is very much imperfectly analogous, but it is something that springs to my mind every time there is an opportunity.
Growing up, there were times when I would suffer some minor wound... a scratch, a cut, a slight burn. After treatment with an antiseptic and application of a Band Aid (that’s a trademark, right?) I would resume normal activities, and pretty soon the Band Aid would come off, and there would be that ugly-looking scab where the wound was healing. I could not wish the scab away, and sometimes tried to help it along with a little gentle prying. If my mother would catch me at that, she would always admonish me not to pull the scab away, because that would open the wound again and delay eventual healing.
Over the weekend, the daily papers and the major TV networks were constantly repeating the terrible story of Selma, Alabama, since it was the 50th anniversary of that “bloody” march over the bridge, when southern racists attacked black marchers on the bridge named for a former KKK leader. It was an awful time in the nation’s history and a really stupid and criminal reaction by those racists.
It is well to remember. But it is also impossible to ignore the fact that resentment, albeit justified, was brought back to mind.
Something of the same thing occurred when Attorney General Holder’s justice department said it could not find sufficient evidence of civil rights violations in that Missouri case, and in so many words cleared the white officer of guilt in the shooting of an unarmed black man. But Holder couldn’t leave it there, and instead insisted that civil rights violations are very much suspect in that city, which caused residents to take to the streets once again.
Then, over the weekend, in Madison, WI, there was another case in which a white officer shot and killed a black man, and once again, there were disturbances in the streets. Hope for a quicker denouement!
What’s the answer? Investigate, file charges where appropriate, hold anyone found guilty responsible under the law, then move on. Don’t keep pulling off the scab.
On a lighter note, it is great to see Iowa’s three state-supported institutions of higher learning will have teams in the NCAA basketball tournament. UNI may have the best team of the three, and it is worth noting that school seems to have the most players who are native Iowans. Something to be said for the quality of athletes Iowa high schools graduate.
And please, skip the “big dance” tripe!
A couple weeks ago, a U. of Minnesota women’s basketball team defeated a very good Iowa team, and did so behind a Gopher girl who had an outstanding game. The sophomore’s last name is a puzzling Zahui B. She hails from Scotland. Iowa fans will see her for another couple of years. Is anyone planning any recruiting trips to Scotland to see if there might be a Zahui A. someplace, who presumably would be better than the “B” model?
