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June 30, 2005 The majority of the e-mails that I have received concerning my article from yesterday have been very positive. A few have not but there was one in particular that has left my jaw hanging in askance of what is going on in these people's minds. I do not have an issue with the fact or deny that a bad decision was made on Natalee's part or even that her parents were possibly negligent in researching the trip before allowing her to go on it. What happened was an error in judgement made by a young girl who went off with some boys that she did not know. It was a big mistake and now she and her family have paid the ultimate price. I have no idea, how or why the "racial" issue is being brought up over this case. I was informed that I lived in a 99% homogenous society so therefore, Natalee would surely have never met or associated with any people of South Asian origin but because Joran was Dutch would have happily gone off with him because he was of the same race. I have no idea how this is relevant to the issue of a missing girl. For those of you who seem to have the belief that the South is still living in the 1960's, let me put that idea to rest. As a person born and raised in B'ham of which Mountain Brook is a suburb, I believe that I can confidently say that we have quite a large Asian population of which the majority live within areas considered middle to upper middle class which includes Mountain Brook. We are not a 99% homogenous society that has not had any contact with other people of other races or religions. I myself am Catholic. It seems that there are still a good number of people that are holding onto the preconception that the south is inhabited by nothing but white bible thumpers. We do have quite a few but so do other areas of the US. It is not exclusive to the south or to B'ham or Alabama in general. We have large Mexican and Black communities, also. If we were totally isolated as I was informed that we were then we would not have had the race riots in the 60's. This is not the 1960's and the race card is so far from the mark that it is laughable. I have never understood why when something happens, people have to look for a "racial" reason behind it. My issue is now and always has been, the verbal abuse that a suffering family is receiving from strangers who do not know their daughter or family and quite frankly do not care about them. This is just a way to try and make the parents feel even lower than I'm sure they already do. It is not helpful. It is actually cruel and I consider inhumane to rub their noses in their misery by stating over and over again that it's their fault that their daughter is missing. I am quite positive that all the parents that allowed their children to go on the trip accepted the responsibility of what might possibly happen. The probability of something of this nature happening was almost nil. The chances of their children not coming back was considered nonexistent. The fact that she is missing is not contingent upon the fact that she went to Aruba. The sole reason that she is missing is that she made a bad decision and someone took advantage of her vulnerability. The same thing could have happened if her parents had told her no, you can't go to Aruba but we'll let you go to FL instead. Give the family a break and respect their feelings. They are hurting. Their wounds are open and fresh. For the rest of their lives they will live with the decision that they made and the results of that decision. That should be punishment enough. They do not need the added stress from people who want nothing more than to chime in with their two cents. By doing this, you are not contributing to finding Natalee Holloway. You are only adding to the burden that her parents are already carrying. For decency sake people, quit relating this case to such ridiculous issues such as race. It has no place in the problem at hand. ------------ About the author: Valerie M Chapman is a technical sales support rep at Watt Stopper/Legrand. Email: Valerie.Chapman@WattStopper.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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