There are still two Hilton Heads | Letters
Let me start by saying that this is a moment in our country where “uncomfortable” conversations have to start. About black people being murdered by white cops, and the inequities in every facet of our life – health care, employment, education, housing, the military. Some might think it’s because of the death of George Floyd. This horrific death was the tipping point. It was a shout that said, “We’ve had enough.”
I spent the first 22 years of my life on Hilton Head Island. Pastimes as a kid included counting cars crossing the bridge coming to vacation.
As a young girl, I spent my summers helping my mother clean houses for vacationers on the south end. I did not know how to articulate my feelings when we went into these plantations. We called this island home but needed permission to gain entry into these gated communities. When I discovered the meaning of the words offensive, oppression, demeaning, demoralizing and marginalization, I attached these words to my feelings.
I always thought there were two Hilton Heads – the north end where most Native Islanders have spent their entire lives, and the south-end playground for the wealthy.
This island remains one of the most segregated in the South, if not the country. You may not agree, but take some time to visit both ends and draw your own conclusions.
I always say a country’s greatness is measured by how it treats all of its citizens. I think America has come up short.
Pamela Dakota Driessen
Hilton Head Island
Your editorial on Beaufort County ‘plantations’ divisive, unfair
It seems that in these contentious times of turmoil and strife, life here in our green and pleasant land of Hilton Head Island is too calm, peaceful and civilized for the taste of The Island Packet’s editorial board.
Those of us who live in “plantations” and gated communities are now classified by our local newspaper as “shameful,” “elitist” perpetrators of “egregious affronts.”
We are “white people” “who cling to ‘Gone With the Wind’ glorification of the slavery era,” and wolf whistlers for “white supremacy.”
Apparently, that is what the editorial board thinks of the very people who have supported their incredible shrinking newspaper with their subscriptions over the years. This is the very newspaper that approached its subscribers just a few weeks ago with hat in hand asking for additional donations to help the paper survive. “Oh, Brother.”
Twice in the editorial the 1950s are mentioned, a time of peace, prosperity and optimism in America, a time now vilified by the Packet. The only way that the Packet editorial hearkens correctly to the 1950s is the divisive, rabble-rousing, race-baiting editorials, rhetoric and tactics of the Communist Party’s newspaper, The Daily Worker.
The Island Packet is asking us to bow down as penitents and chastened supplicants on the altar of progressivism to atone for the interpretation of a word.
Kenneth H. Sailley
Hilton Head Island
It’s time for Hilton Head to discard use of ‘plantation’
I have been a resident of Hilton Head Plantation for almost nine years.
I love the island and HHP but have always been upset that the community is called a plantation.
There may have once been a romantic and relatively benign appeal in using this appellation but those days have long since passed.
As we witness the removal of statues and other Confederate memorabilia from public places, and most likely, from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, it is time to consider less offensive and provocative names for where we live on this beautiful island.
The history of the Civil War and those who honor its heroes will not disappear if we discard the term, but I believe that the residents here will be relieved.
Marvin P. Frogel MD
Hilton Head Island
History happened! We should learn from it and not destroy history itself
Is it time to “scrub plantations from our communities,” or to concentrate on the real issues of our times?
I have lived on Hilton Head Island for nearly 40 years, arriving from Ohio. I lived in Hilton Head Plantation for 25 of those years.
I don’t believe I ever had an elitist mindset as to living there. I am offended by your editorial’s reference that I cling to the “Gone With The Wind” glorification of slavery.
I was on the Penn Center board for revitalizing Penn. My husband and I furnished one of the rooms at the center. My husband was an OB-GYN for Beaufort-Jasper-Hampton Comprehensive Health Services, which at the time was mainly a medical facility for black people. I was a Rotary Reader and a mentor for black children and loved them dearly. We shared our home with two children of the African choir when it performed here.
In Webster’s Dictionary, “plantation” is defined as a settlement in a new country or region, such as Plimouth Plantation near Boston.
We now try to change history instead of learning from it. The people who are pushing for all this change of our history are the very people instigating the rebellious nature of today. Now is not the time to get rid of plantations or deface and tear down monuments of our past. It is the time to get rid of all the derisiveness that people are fostering.
History happened! We should learn from it and not destroy history itself.
Carol V. Casey
Hilton Head Island
Where’s the proof of a ‘deep state’?
I want to take exception to the blatant anti-Semitic comments in a recent letter to the editor.
The contributor associates a Hungarian-born Jew who escaped from the Nazis and a prominent centuries-old German banking family, also Jewish, and both highly philanthropic, with “deep state players.”
The “deep state” is defined by some as a conspiracy theory, which suggests that collusion and cronyism exist within the U.S. political system and constitute a hidden government agenda within the legitimately-elected government.
Where is the proof of this association and where is the proof of a deep state? Should the Packet publish such opinions without corroboration, using the same principles that they would expect from their own reporters?
Isn’t this letter contradictory in itself? Avoid extremes, is its message. Isn’t anti-Semitism an extreme? The extremists the writer sees are not the extremists I see.
Steve White
Bluffton
Pay attention to COVID-19 mask updates
Previous letters have urged the public to wear face masks. Now, a published study by leading scientists in the UK found that masks, even homemade ones, can greatly reduce the spread of COVID-19 in public spaces.
Richard Stutt, who co-led the study at Cambridge, was quoted in a Reuter’s article stating, “Our analyses support the immediate and universal adoption of face masks by the public.”
Even WHO, according to Reuters, is issuing a statement saying that everyone should be wearing face masks when in public areas.
Unfortunately, during these tumultuous times, this should be on the front page of every printed media outlet. I encourage the staff at The Beaufort Gazette to stay on top of these new studies so that it can better inform readers of what should be done during this pandemic.
It is obvious that many residents, businesses, and visitors are not heeding this advice. Maybe these new findings might encourage people to do the right thing.
It’s a disgrace that our President refuses to wear a mask, and mocks those who do. His actions, or lack thereof, not only show his inability to have empathy or concern for the American people, it demonstrates a deliberate attempt to sabotage the truth.
Regina Sixta
Beaufort
Shooting near Coligny Beach on Hilton Head a telltale sign
A previous letter said the dream of Hilton Head Island is dead. I agree.
The dream and the plan of Charles Fraser in the 1960s for Hilton Head is gone, not only because of the incident with the alligator at the mini-golf course. That was an unintentional development of a situation that got out of hand by an unfortunate judgment call.
Now we have a shooting near Coligny Beach.
Truly, Myrtle Beach South.
Kathryn Sheppard
Hilton Head Island
Deny permit for Bay Point development
We urge Beaufort County officials and members of the Zoning Board of Appeals to use the discretion granted to them by the Community Development Code and by the expectations of the Comprehensive Plan to deny the proposed project at Bay Point Island a special-use permit.
Bay Point Island is not a suitable place for a resort development.
Charlene Shufelt
Beaufort
The advantage of the Independent
How do you define an Independent?
That question was asked by a good friend recently upon my reminding him that I was very comfortable being an Independent conservative. The way my friend saw it, “An Independent is one who cannot identify with either party, thus finding it hard to advance their particular ideas about an issue.”
Webster’s defines Independent as, “not adhering to any political party – free from influence.”
Not a bad position.
You might find it surprising that 38% of the public describes themselves as politically Independent, 31% Democrat and 26% Republican (Pew Research Center, March 2019).
I have been a registered Republican all my life. What changed? Partisanship and gridlock, evolution of the Trump Party replacing the Republican Party, and moral decline of American values, particularly in Washington.
I find it satisfying to review with an open mind the pros and cons of situations without regard to party support. This non-affiliated position allows one the freedom to encourage parties to reach across the aisle, really listen to the other’s point, initiating constructive, civil dialogue while reaching consensus for progress.
I encourage us in the Lowcountry to adopt an independent viewpoint and not blindly follow any party line exclusively.
Further, look closely at each elected official and candidate running for office regardless of party. Do they exhibit an open, independent mind? Do they apply common-sense values to the issues? Do they pledge a nonpartisan approach in solving our nation’s problems?
Think independently.
Earle Everett
Moss Creek
Random act: We should all be this kind
I took a nasty fall recently. At my age – almost 82 – any fall can be bad and I am grateful that I have good bones and have never broken anything.
Coming out of a local grocery store, my cart tipped sideways having hit a crack in the sidewalk, trapping me between it and a concrete pillar and throwing me to the hard pavement. Because I was somewhat trapped, I could not get enough leverage to either move the cart or lift my body from the ground.
I kept thinking another customer would come out of the store – nope! – or a car would drive into the lot. Finally the latter happened. A large SUV came in and the driver literally stopped in the middle of the drive and hopped out.
She never spoke a word to me during the following minutes. Perhaps she did not speak English. However, she offered me both hands and pulled me to a standing position. Then she lifted my cart, picked up my spilled groceries and rebagged them, placed the bags in the cart, and went back to her car, never having said a word.
I thanked her profusely, of course, but I don’t know if she understood a word I said. I hope she understood my grateful tone.
A random act of kindness when we are in the middle of so many critical moments. Would that we could all be so kind!
Sunni Bond
Hilton Head Island
Do more about uptick in COVID-19 cases on Hilton Head
Like many, my life on Hilton Head Island has been charmed. The natural beauty of this island brings peace to my spirit and a smile to my face.
However, each day when I read the updates of COVID-19 on the island I become quite concerned with the uptick in cases, which causes me to pause to wonder if the Town of Hilton Head Island is doing contact tracing considering all of the newly infected people.
With so many folks unemployed at this time, wouldn’t it be in the best interest of all residents to put people to work on contact tracing?
The health and safety of all residents must be a priority on the island; our elected officials owe us that.
Kathleen Bart
Hilton Head Island
Biden’s ‘diagnosis’: Voters must be clear-thinking
A recent letter written by a doctor diagnosing former Vice President Joe Biden with “expressive aphasia” was inappropriate. Doctors know that they determine a diagnosis by examining a patient privately and very often in consultation with an expert in the field, such as a neurologist. They do not make their opinion public, especially since they would be violating HIPAA laws. This writer has no idea if new symptoms have developed in recent years since the 1980s.
What bothers me is the willingness of so many people to make diagnoses based on smear campaigns and conspiracy theories. Some of these people get their information from QAnon, rather than a credible newspaper. They repeat the absurd theories.
Yet these same people ignore the serious gaffes, erratic behavior, and prolific lies of the current president. Remember “Tim Apple,” “covfefe,” “hamberder,” or “accompliment shites”? His erratic behavior puts us at risk every day. Particularly dangerous are his lies during this pandemic – 23.8 a day since it began.
As a clinical social worker helping those with dementia, I spend time with my clients, use screening tools, and rely on specialists who determine the final diagnosis. I understand the need to do this because some of what we think we see can have other causes. Joe Biden has publicly admitted his history of stuttering and what he does to manage it.
As a country on the brink of an election, we need a clear-thinking voting public.
Denise Visconti
Bluffton
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