We Are Not Amused To the Editor, It appears that it is open season at the Tucson Weekly. First you allow Tom Danehy to print an article of open hostility and bigotry. Now you have Jeff Smith telling bigoted jokes and redefining African-American history to suit his narrow mind ("And Another Thing," Tucson Weekly, August 14). Of course, you all are sitting there saying, "Oh, come on, can't you take a joke?" No, thank you very much. You don't have to print jokes that laugh at people to have humor. It's silly to try and find some group that "won't mind," if some hetero white guy pukes up another Nazi hairball, and then sits there laughing at it. We do mind. It is mean-spirited and promotes hate and violence. What's more, you are already walking a fine line with the lesbian and gay community after the Danehy article. In case anyone forgot, Danehy wrote a bigoted article a few weeks back. In it he says that lesbians and gays are offensive in the eyes of God and do not deserve the right to freedom of expression. He also offered the usual tripe about "lifestyles" and "family values." He whitewashed this smear with the guise of a critique on television. Now we have Jeff Smith sneaking in a punch. He offers us bigotry in the name of "folk humor." (These guys prove the point that bigots are cowards. The Ku Klux Klan wrapped in sheets are no different than writers using the guise of journalistic tradition to promote bigotry.) Jeff tells us this joke is okay because a good-natured cowboy is telling it. Then he gets even more outrageous. He says that Amos and Andy started out authentically funny, but were polluted by political correctness. Isn't this backwards? They started off as a stereotype of blacks as shuffling niggers. Now, they are being brought into a politically correct light by removing the stereotype. So here's one for you to tell while all the good-old-white-boys are sitting around. What do you call a newspaper that promotes bigotry? Answer: One that is asking for a boycott. If an immediate apology isn't made to the lesbian and gay, and the African American people in this community, I assure you I will spearhead this campaign to boycott. --James Ru South Tucson Stats To the Editor, A contributor to the Mailbag referred to South Tucson as an "anomaly created in the early 1960s." Please be advised that South Tucson was incorporated in 1940. Be further advised that if South Tucson is considered an anomaly because it is surrounded by another city, it shares that status with at least two other places: the Vatican, surrounded by Rome, and the City, surrounded by London. --Michael J. Hansen Canadian Conundrum To the Editor, Jeff Smith's "Kick a Canuck" (Tucson Weekly, August 11) raised a number of issues. Discrimination of people by other people usually is contingent upon economics, language, race or culture. I guess we should be "democratic" when "we" practice it but unfortunately "we" tend to be "selective" for whatever reasons. His article restricted it to Mexicans on the southern border and to French-Canadians on the northern border and the state of Maine. As an American of Acadian and French-Canadian heritage, I must look at this "problem" from a personal, historical perspective. My ancestors were dispossessed of their land twice by the English, or Brits, as Jeff refers to them. The first was the Acadian exile in 1775, when a number of my ancestors perished in the snow trying to escape the pursuing English. The second dispossession took place during the American Revolutionary War when "loyalists" of the British Crown took off for Canada and again dispossessed the Acadians of their land. Some of the exiled Acadians had returned to Canada. The historical consequences of these events live on to the present day, whether it be in Canada or in the U.S. I don't think you'll ever see Americans treating "Canadian-looking people" like Mexicans unless they are French-Canadians who, after all, speak French-patois (isn't that a foreign language?), speak English "funny," and only raise potatoes in northern Maine. What stereotyping! The province of Québec is a vibrant place. It provides billions of dollars of electrical power to our northeastern states. Their factories produce subway trains and cars in the eastern cities. They produce airplanes. Remember Bombardier of Montréal, which bought out Learjet here in Tucson? Jeff recognizes there is no justification for they (who are they? WASPs?) who treat Frenchmen derisively in Maine. Wow! I thought they comprise one-fourth to one-third of that state's population--Frenchman, that is. Jeff's article ends with: "...and then I'd like to see our nation drop the whole silly mess, and let those huddled masses breathe free, enjoy Disneyland, and spend their money to support our economy, gladly." Well, Jeff, not to worry! Countless numbers of my Québec relatives vacation every summer at Wells, Maine (oops, that's southern Maine), where their Canadian money helps to support the American economy. Besides, there are almost three million "French-Canadians" living in the northeastern New England states and most of them were doing all right when last I heard. Then, too, maybe some day Québec may become a separate republic and not only the three million in New England but some 13 million "Francophones" in the U.S. could return "home" to Québec's six and a half million and viola! A new French speaking nation of 20 million on the North American continent! It almost boggles my mind! Of course, I'm not holding my breath. And now, Québec practices "reverse" discrimination on the English language by passing "language" laws which the minority "Anglophiles" must practice. So what's good for the goose is good for the gander! As Jeff says--it's all kind of silly, but it's the real world. --Martin M. Pelland Thanks! To the Editor, When we realized that we had to raise money to give a Nicaraguan woman a much-needed operation, we knew that we had a tough road ahead of us. Helping foreigners is not the most popular cause today; however, many Tucsonans came through to help a woman they do not know and will never meet. On August 8, local talent came together at the Club Congress for a benefit for Alejandra Acevedo, who lives in a small agricultural village in Nicaragua. She suffered a severe head injury when her house was destroyed in a hurricane. Alejandra need surgery to be able to see her children grow up and to get back to work. Our family would like to thank our Tucson neighbors, contributors and the doctors who gave advice. The benefit could not have occurred without the help of Vickie Keller, George Huffman, Dan Vinik, Club Congress, Kathy Rivers, Michael Hyatt, Kid Squidd, Al Perry and the Cattle, Doo Rag, Honeywagon, James Dead, Molton Leather and everyone that attended the show. Despite the rain, Club Congress was packed and the concert was hugely successful. Again, thanks to everyone who attended the show and helped to make this possible. A big thanks also for all the publicity the Tucson Weekly gave. --Adrienne and Karen Lake We Want Letters! Thrilled by our brilliant insights? Sick of our mean-spirited attacks? Need to make something perfectly clear? Write: tucsonweekly@tucsonweekly.com

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