Don’t Resort to Intimidation

To the Editor:

As a proud graduate of La Grange High School and former resident of Fayette County it was distressing to read from a columnist in the Houston Chronicle that a local business was threatened after displaying a billboard in support of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket. Following those cowardly threats, the message on the billboard was removed.

This letter to the editor will doubtless, if printed, appear in your publication past the date of the current election.

Still, the good people of Fayette County of every political persuasion should condemn this kind of unAmerican behavior in the strongest terms. It is little remembered but nonetheless significant that when the decision of whether Texas should secede from the Union was being debated, our forefathers stood firmly on behalf freedom and a majority in Fayette County, although ultimately outvoted statewide, chose the wholesomeness of union over treachery and slavery in that election.

That early episode is only one of many courageous examples where the County’s people stood face first into the political winds of the period. How many times did the proud sons and daughters of Fayette County assemble beneath the Muster Oak before going off to serve in a conflict to selflessly defend liberty not just for a few, but for every Texan and every American regardless of origin? How many their sacrificed their health, wellbeing, bright futures, and even their young lives in defense of the American ideals of truthfulness, freedom of expression and respect for the individual?

It is a woeful day when people not only in Fayette County but anywhere in our great land resort to threats and intimidation instead of enlightened debate over honest disagreements and differences.

This latest incident is contrary to and a heavy stain on the heritage handed down to those of us today by a good, strong, and honest people. Despite this shameful occurrence, I am confident that those for responsible for this despicable act and other such acts, whatever the source, will ultimately fail in their desperate attempts to rule the country through hate, fear, and division, instead of govern it with respectful discussion, thoughtful reflection, and wholesome inclusion.

Doubtless this letter will draw many angry responses and maybe even threats but like with those early Texans, there comes a time when we are called to stand up and be counted for what’s right. For all of us, this is one of those times.

David Joost Wharton