JUST GET ALONG

I compose this letter not to polarize race relations, but to gain knowledge
of what I truly don't understand. Again and again, I read or hear in the
media about the NAACP defending criminals.

It doesn't seem to matter that the arrests have become more violent. Drugs
such as cocaine and its derivative, crack, make a subject much more violent
and less likely to submit to an arrest.

This is not a black-white issue. This is an issue that involves criminals
committing crimes. How are we to protect the law-abiding citizens of our
communities if the arresting officer's actions are under such intense
scrutiny and are expected to be kind and gentle?

The subject being arrested or detained is usually the determining factor
about how that arrest or detainment will go. When the subject is abusive,
violent, resisting, then the officer has to take this situation in full
control. Yes, sometimes mistakes are made, and yes, sometimes people who
shouldn't be hurt are.

But when you break the law, it doesn't matter who you are, what race you
are, what neighborhood you are from; you have become a criminal and you
have to take what comes. We need to understand that we are Americans first,
not whites, blacks, Asians, Indians, Hispanics. Why not face these issues
as Americans, instead of polarizing the races by using well-intentioned
race specific groups to solve our problems?

DOUG OWEN

Winston-Salem.