Speakout 8-15

Thursday, August 15, 2002

Why do certain people's pictures get in the paper when they've been arrested on drug charges? There's a certain person who was arrested in East Prairie and I haven't seen anything about her.

We call the Mississippi County Sheriff, East Prairie Police and Charleston Department of Public Safety daily, Monday through Saturday and the information you have was not given to the Standard Democrat for publication.

I am calling in response to "Is it color or money?" I, too, have filed for bankruptcy. I am white and I don't feel that it is discriminating against black people because I can't buy a house or a car and I don't think it is racist.


This is in answer to "Is it color or money?" It may be these weren't people you knew who filed bankruptcy. Or to get houses or new cars, maybe they did have co-signers. You said a black person you know was trying to get a car but couldn't get the loan without a co-signer. Maybe the white person you know who went through the same thing and got a car had a co-signer. You never know. I file bankruptcy before and couldn't get credit at all, and I'm white. So I don't believe it's a racial thing. I know friends who are black and filed bankruptcy that do own new cars and homes. So I think it's just a matter of who you get to help you.

I know this isn't going to make SpeakOut, but I want to respond to "Is it color or is it money?" Yes it is, sweetheart. It is a black and white issue going on in Sikeston and something needs to be done about it. Sikeston is a pitiful place to be in.


I wish I could make a comment about the person who complained about the white people who filed bankruptcy. First of all, caller, how do you know that all these people who filed bankruptcy are white? If I was a banker and you had filed bankruptcy, I sure wouldn't want to trust you on an automobile loan. That's just normal business. You need to get a life.


I'm calling about the comment on the bankruptcy problem, is it black or white. Why does any issue have to come down to the color of your skin? As far as a bank is concerned, in plain truth, you have to have a job to buy anything, you can't be on the welfare system, and if you go out of Sikeston, most of the time you can buy from people that will give you credit, no matter what color your skin is. And it's just as hard on a poor white person to get credit in Sikeston as it is for a black person. You go to these car lots where they say they won't turn you down. If you have don't a big, fat wallet with a big down payment, they'll turn you down flat. It's a big fat lie. It doesn't have anything to do with the color of your skin.

I'm calling about "Nobody's perfect." You said, "At least she's working" and wearing a scarf. What if she wasn't working and was sitting at home and wearing a scarf. Would you really care, then? No. Some people will just wear anything to work. Is it all right with you if somebody wears a nice outfit to work?

I'm calling about the Sikeston baseball team making it to the World Series. I'm extremely disappointed in the Standard Democrat. This is major news for Sikeston and these families of the players and the players themselves have worked very hard to achieve this level, and they rate a little caption? I'm really disappointed. This should have made major headlines.

The 21-inch World Series preview story ran on Aug. 11.

This is for the person who asked if anyone puts freon in air conditioners. Call Bill Halter at Eftink Hardware (573) 262-2233. He works on air conditioners.