Kudos to the N&R for publishing the letter from John Bernard after this letter. At least someone makes a little sense on this subject.

So a few wackos got in a gun fight 26 years ago, therefore companies and young adults will not consider locating here today because the city is in a state of denial? Spare me. I guess that's why Dell went to Forsyth county.

This Truth & Reconciliation project is nothing but a group of people with too much free time trying to regurgitate old news to make the city look bad. If the salt in the wound hurts too much, try another city.

Dan, You and I are usually at odds on issues but I can agree with you completely on this one. I have heard all my life "Time heals all wounds" and "Time is the best healer". What kind of healing can one expect if, after twenty six years, folks are determined to open those wounds? As a 94 year old patient of mine said often "It don't make no kind of sense to me".

Hey Yvonne, Glad we can agree from time to time. The assumption that Greensboro is seen as a "racist backwater" and companies/people won't move here because the mayor won't cowtow to this Truth & Reconciliation group is insane.

I wish these people would devote their time to getting the civil rights museum opened up, as Greensboro is more perceived as a city where a major event took place to start the civil rights movement. But with Skip Alston involved in that effort which started in 1993, the museum is still not open yet.

Tracey Brown seems quite biased in her opinions. From all I've read and heard, bullets were travelling in both directions on that day in 1979. In fact, it was more akin to an old western gunfight than the Ku Klux Klan ambush that she is making it out to be.

Also, Keith Hollidays statement that he would have 'voted the Klan guilty' doesn't mean a hill of beans. He most likely was not at the march and definitely wasn't on the jury. To even say such things is irresponsible on his part.

Tracey also states that she has only lived here for 14 years and learned about this incident through a UNCG play. After viewing the play, she all of a sudden takes the events that transpired long before she moved here as a personal affront. That reinforces the idea that stirring the past up causes more pain. For if UNCG hadn't done that play, Tracey could live her life without having been offended by events that had absolutely NOTHING to do with her. How is it a personal affront to you, Tracey? If the answer is that you are black, I'm sorry, that isn't good enough. Stop playing the martyr for something you weren't involved in.

The events of 26 years ago are but a blip on the radar screen of modern day Greensboro.
The incident was investigated exhaustively then, by many agencies.
If the writer had been a jury member during the trial he would understand why there was a not guilty verdict. Hearing about something from a UNC-G play is a far cry from hearing the facts in a court of law as a jury member. (No, I wasn't one, but I well remember the event and the trials.)
Since then, minds have clouded, memories faded, people claim to have been there for notoriety when they were really far away, etc. Conspiracy theories, false witnesses, political agendas.., all of this will surface so that this group of left-leaning "activists" can once again grab the front page of the N&R for their own aggrandizement.

Nothing good will come from this.

This may not pertain to the klan shootings, but it does reflect what I've found to be the opinion of many. There is a pervasive quirk in this town that stifles and smothers even the fairest of days. The people I've seen discussing this get a consternated forehead and never really get down to pinning the cause. Maybe a lot of us were raised to believe Lee Kinard was God. Or maybe we thought the people downtown were the only ones who knew what time it was. Maybe it's the humidity in summer or the irony of southern charm being upstaged by squeaking wheels. Maybe it's that everything is a thing, nothing seems real. There's a pause for condemnation in each social transaction. Live and let live, not here. Whatever it is, it is like nowhere else.

Steve,

I know you are speaking english, but I can't understand what you're trying to say.

Like most of the folks above, I'm rabidly apathetic about the 1979 shootings. Although I view some parts of the incident as tragic--notably, that the Communists' marksmanship was so poor--mostly I just couldn't care less about a shootout between two groups of whack jobs. Why don't we form a parallel Commission for Apathy and issue our own report?

Mr. T., The allegory I wrote was merely a provocation of thought to define a twisted mentality. "Being raised to believe Lee Kinard was God" means that being well-connected was a means to an end. Mr. Kinard's love for himself knew no boundaries. Sort of like "once you're in, you're in". Sandra Hughes could be reporting on the actual return of Jesus Christ and would only be thinking about how badly her feet hurt . . . "Looking toward town to find out the time" means that we were conditioned to look to the establishment for structure. The Jefferson-Standard building was and is the keeper of the flame.(time) "Southern Charm being upstaged" means that people are having to change the manner in which they respond because of the displacement of southern heritage. Kindness and allowance for discussion have been replaced, in many instances, by sheer rudeness and aggression. The loss of identity, or never having had one, is my message. These points are not meant to be definitive. I appreciated the tact in which you pointed out my ramblings, but I'll never forgive you for Rocky III.

I pity da fool who talks about my movies......

Just kidding. Thanks for the explanation. That was pretty deep stuff. Keep writing.

I have posted this on a couple of other sites where the TRC is the subject. Those who have read it I hope you do not tire of it. To those who are reading for the first time in this anology there is a lesson of truth that all may take advantage of.

When I was a little boy I had a turtle for a pet. Unfortunately because of some
unforseen circumstances my little critter died. I was really upset over the
situation.

My Dad told me there was nothing more I could do. So I found a piece of an old
blanket, wrapped my little critter in it, got an old oatmeal box and put my
beloved pet inside and went out side and gave it a proper burial. Of course I
invited all my friends to attend.

A week or so later I decided that maybe there was something I could do to for my
turtle. I got my shovel and went to retrieve the corpse and check things out
for myself.

Now,my Dad, being the wise man that he was, said."Son if you dig it up after all
this time it will stink and there is nothing more you can do."

Of course I did not listen, I wanted to see for myself. I proceeded to dig up my
little critter thinking just perhaps it had crawled back into the shell and
gone to sleep. I retrieved the oatmeal box,opened it up. The turtle was dead. I
had given it a proper burial.

I had ignored the words of wiser voices and went right ahead and dug it up and UGH, did it ever stink.

I should have listened.

Brian,

You are one sick puppy. So you wish the Communists marksmanship was better that day. This assumes more dead would have made you happy. Well I suppose that would be consistent with the name of the rally chosen by the organizers : " Death To The Klan ".

Mr Appel, you have got the "Rev" Fellow Traveller Johnson and his crew of publicity seeking socialists pegged right. What are Joya and Nelson gonna do once this TRC BS has torn the scabs off an old sore ? Ah yes they will keep the pot stirred . They care nothing about truth and less about reconcilliation .

Brian is the John Belushi of the bloggers. It's obvious that anonymity breeds courage, but this guy is all nads. Scanning every letter for his caustic opinions is better than watching repo-men driving off with your neighbor's car.

I'll volunteer to work on the TRP if I can be in charge of investigating the role the "Rev." Nelson Johnson played in it, his connections to the Communist Worker's Party (who fired the first shots, thereby giving the Klan a self-defense defense in court), his actions in setting up the march in the first place, and his actions in firing up the CWP and encouraging them to carry weapons. Oh, yea, and his actions in covering up the truth and playing the race card in this debacle.
I'd love to get involved in this search for the "truth" because the TRP won't dare tell the real story.

Yep, Jack. And after stirring everybody up to carry weapons to a "death to the clan" march, Mr. Nelson (sorry, not worthy of reverend) hid under a car until the firing stopped.

I don't know what people expected.. a death to the klan rally? Of course people were going to die.. the name said it all. I was in greensboro when this event happened, although I was not AT the event. I had more sense. Anything with a DEATH to whomever rally seemed like a good thing to NOT be involved with at the time.