Breslin’s visit to Alabama school

Washington: In March 1965, during the third and final civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, hundreds of journalists traveled to Alabama to cover the historic event. Jimmy Breslin, then a Herald Tribune columnist, visited the Rolen School, a small African-American schoolhouse in Lowndes County, and wrote a column that appeared on March 25. Oregon Democratic Rep. Edith Green was so shocked by Breslin’s column, “Lowndes’ Little-Fed Schoolhouse Sits with Roof Flapping in Wind,” she entered it in the Congressional Record that day. Readers can find it on pages 5965-5966. I’ve kept a copy of it for 40 years, since one of my professors at Auburn University in my native Alabama read from it. It is not pleasant reading.

Breslin wrote of the Rolen School, which schooled grades 1 to 6, “From the road it looks like a deserted shack.” The school building sat off the ground “on small piles of loose red bricks.” Its 10 windows were nearly all broken. The school’s tin roof “was flapping in the breeze coming through the fields.” An outhouse served as the bathroom.

Rolen’s principal, John Bowen, told Breslin he would need a state of Alabama-issued permit to enter the school. Bowen told Breslin, “There’s no way to learn here. It’s just impossible.”

Breslin then entered the Rolen School without Alabama’s official permission. It is a dismal verbal picture Breslin captured for his readers. The school had no electricity and coal heat. A schoolteacher explained to Breslin the parents of her students went to the same type of schools. “I guess it never will come to an end,” she told him.

The teacher also explained that parents of the students were sharecroppers, and that as soon as the students were old enough, they would be taken from school to pick cotton. Breslin examined a textbook and found it was published in 1940. Students brought their own lunches or went without. One student reported eating “light bread and hot sauce.”

Breslin wrote of the civil rights marches nearing Montgomery, “They march in the sun because of things like the Rolen School.”

At the state Capitol, Breslin wrote of “the Confederate flag flying over the American flag.” He wrote that the legislature passed a resolution condemning ministers for marching for civil rights. The legislature also, Breslin wrote, called attention to “fornicating” among marchers.

Breslin did not mention the governor of Alabama by name. He did not have to as the nation and the world already knew. He did, however, write that the governor would not give in to “the mob rule of Communists.”

“The people here must be seen to be believed,” Breslin dramatically wrote as his close.

History cannot be hidden. Jimmy Breslin’s powerful words, like the powerful words of Nelle Harper Lee and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., cannot be hidden, either. These three legends may be gone, but they will never be silenced. They will continue to inspire and motivate others to peacefully work for social change and greater unity among all people. Jim Patterson

Fix NYCHA

Manhattan: I live in the East River Houses and had a need for my ceiling to be sprayed for one year. The repair was to be done on March 7 between 8 a.m. and noon, but no one came and I was home. I called the NYCHA repair hotline and was told to give them time to still come, but if they didn’t, then to call back. It’s taken one year for a repair in my apartment. Shame on them. NYCHA repairs are such a joke. All I get is no-shows. Before proposing to force their way in to make repairs, they should meet their appointments. Mary Smith

Can do a better job

Manhattan: NYCHA houses have become New Jack City, where good citizens are held captive by a criminal element and a political system that refuses to enforce the law. New York cannot offer safety or a hand up out of poverty until the predatory criminals are removed from these communities. Michel Faulkner

Republican candidate for mayor

In or out?

Islip, L.I.: I find it laughable that your paper pretends to be outraged when NYCHA fails to keep out evicted tenants who commit crimes (“Menaces not welcome,” editorial, April 3). Aren’t you the same paper that expresses outrage when the government attempts to deport illegal immigrants who commit crimes?

Alan Amott

You go away, girl

Hackensack, N.J.: If you have a passion for art and a love of creativity, you’re probably as sick as I am with the obnoxious altering of a powerful sculpture on Bowling Green, in lower Manhattan. Who thought it was a good idea to modify Wall Street’s mighty “Charging Bull,” an iconic sculpture created by Italian artist Arturo Di Modica in 1989 as his gift to the resilient people of New York? What is next, painting a photo bomber hamming it up behind the Mona Lisa? Or how about a marble toilet chiseled under the bum of Rodin’s “The Thinker”? That would enhance the piece, wouldn’t it? Stop trying to make existing artworks better. If you have a message that you’re looking to purvey, create a new piece of art, to represent your agenda du jour. Furthermore, the placement of this naively overconfident little girl is just another example of bad parenting. Where are the parents of this kid who allowed her to stand before a raging bull ready to charge? I’m not sure, but I can almost guarantee that this confrontation did not end well. Carl Sartori

Coloring the argument

Bronx: To Voicer Yvonne Crequé, who asks why the “Fearless Girl” statue has to be white: She isn’t. She is bronze.

W. Twirley

Dangerous animal

Brooklyn: In May 1987, an 11-year-old boy was mauled to death after climbing into the Prospect Park Zoo’s bear enclosure after the zoo closed, reportedly “on a dare” from his companions. Now we are discussing allowing a statue of a small child to be permanently placed so that she seems to be teasing an enraged, dangerous bull. If this encounter involved a real child and animal, it could only end in horror. The statue has served its purpose for the Boston investment firm that commissioned it. Now, let’s send it back to Boston.

Elizabeth O’Neill

Putin salad

Bellerose: There needs to be a big investigation. It’s alleged that President Trump had Russian dressing on his salad last night!

John van Acken

No nukes

Brooklyn: The Daily News Editorial Board says opposing Gov. Cuomo’s $7.6 billion nuclear bailout is “a pile of radioactive garbage” (editorial, March 31). You know what’s really a pile of garbage? Claiming that New York’s only option for a clean energy future is to cuddle up for 12 years with rich energy company Exelon instead of investing real money in wind and solar developments that would bring good jobs and long-term green energy to the Empire State. They clearly didn’t read Stanford Prof. Mark Jacobson’s analysis showing it’s not only possible, it’s cheaper and reduces more emissions, too. Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard is meant to push New York toward a sustainable energy future, not subsidize a failing industry that can’t keep its operational and safety costs under control. And these costs aren’t just going to hit New York ratepayers — schools, hospitals and other public institutions will also be facing rising costs that will WILLIAM LOVELACE/GETTY IMAGES most likely have to be covered by taxpayers. The News should do its homework and spend more time supporting a truly green New York, not closed-door deals to big business. Alex Beauchamp Northeast Region Director

Food & Water Watch

Think mink

New City, N.Y.: Voicer John Zink wants to know where to buy the orange drink that Nedick’s had. Dairy Queen makes it. They call it an Orange Julius. Marc Samuels

Compassion for others

Rego Park: When I see a homeless person begging or just sitting on the street, two things my mom told me come back to me. No. 1: There but for the grace of God go I. No. 2: That person is someone’s son or daughter. If you can, give a helping hand. Bernice Chorzepa

Can do a better job

Brooklyn: A high-ranking official in the Brooklyn DA’s office is allowed to illegally wiretap innocent people for over a year completely unchecked by management (“Love-mad prosecutor sorry for illicit snoop,” April 4). This is yet another reminder that Eric Gonzalez is asleep at the wheel and obviously has no idea what is going on in his own office. In this case, his failure in leadership deprived two individuals of their fundamental right to privacy. We already have a President who has total disregard for civil liberties. We don’t need that in Brooklyn. Marc Fliedner

Candidate for Brooklyn DA