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Letters in the Editor''s Mailbag.

Article Excerpt
Byline: The Register-Guard

Bridge has infamous history

I feel the need to respond to those letter writers who support renaming the Ferry St. Bridge to Martin Luther King Bridge. They need to be aware of the irony of such a decision. The bridge is the site of Eugene's own ethnic cleansing.

The original black community in Eugene was located at the current site of the bridge. Members of this community were forcibly moved to the area near St. Mark Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (the oldest traditionally black church in Lane County), between Bertelsen Road and Bailey Hill Road, so the bridge could be built.

At the time, that west Eugene area was a swamp and outside of the Eugene Water & Electricity Board's service territory. They had no electricity. They had to walk more than a mile to get water. This condition went on into the 1960s.

I think it would be in very poor taste to name a bridge with such an infamous history for King.

CHARLES DALTON

President Emeritus

Eugene-Springfield Branch

of the NAACP

Eugene

Money dominates system

So another presidential election is starting up and all the political rhetoric has begun to fly. We're seeing million dollar fund-raisers and another huge tax cut for the rich. Ironic, or just politics as usual?

The rich politicians, bankrolled by the rich in corporate offices, give these same rich huge tax breaks. This vicious circle goes way beyond irony to being just plain wrong!

I feel out of the...

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