YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN CONTEMPT FROM THEIR ELDERS

Re: "Cycle of death: The battle with no end," Page 1, Feb. 11.

Articles such as these show that the young are being desensitized to
violence. They are seeing, hearing and believing that acts of violence are
the natural circumstances around their birth. Or their death.

Most of these attacks are clandestine in nature. Why testify? The key
question is: What about the witness protection program? Witnesses seem to
turn up dead anyway. Why don't the programs work? Is that a rhetorical
question undeserving of an answer?

In dissecting any culture, evidence will show that every culture carries in
itself a subculture. Why do we give so much attention to a subculture? Why
do we still have murder and mayhem hot spots in the year 2004?

Killings that turn out to be cases of mistaken identity are just a way for
the urban terrorists to say, "Can you hear me now?" They are a way of
controlling people by striking fear into their hearts.

As a mother who has suffered such a tragedy, I understand that jealousy and
envy breed contempt and then, sometimes, violence. Holding a grudge against
other families for many years should be a crime. Stop it! Openly expressing
your general dislike for certain families in front of the younger
generation is wrong. Children are like sponges sucking up everything, and
then they grow up with the very same contempt for the very same family.

Elayne W. Vigne

New Orleans