To the Editor:

In a recent heated controversy reported in The Enterprise, one of the parties stated that he “could get 50 people to march for a ham sandwich.”  I understand that issues can become emotional, but, even under those circumstances, it behooves us to choose our words carefully.

You see, I marched in the civil rights movement of the early 1960s, and the decision to march was not taken lightly.  It was a statement in opposition to then-existing laws, and the beliefs of a large number of people, some of whom chose violence as their means of expression.  It was a deadly serious decision, and I would not have it diminished by such an unthinking comment.  I have marched at other times since then, and for (or against) other controversial matters, and never was the decision to march made frivolously.

It appears that the intent of the remark was to indicate that the marchers were unintelligent, and I assume, that the march meant little in the greater scheme of things, but that remark diminishes the actions and commitment of the hundreds of thousands of us who were deadly serious when we stood up for what we believed was right. Birmingham, Northern Ireland, Kent State, and Tiananmen Square prove it.

Many of us were called “outside agitators” in those days, but belief and courage are not determined by geography or postal address.  Since those days, there probably have been some people who marched for inconsequential reasons, but please, do not tar all of us with the same brush.  It is unkind, and unfair. My friends who fought and died in Vietnam did some marching, too, both before and during that war, and none of them did it for fun.

Phyllis Johnson

Berne

Editor’s note: Phyllis Johnson writes a weekly column on the Helderberg Seniors for The Altamont Enterprise.