Now is my turn for my 2 cents worth. Since when did a protest become OK for vandalism? What makes this right? Destruction of property is shameful.

Black lives matter? Well, I say all lives matter. What good is tearing down a statue that represents us from back in the Civil War, which is part of all of our American history, as does the Confederate flag. I say what’s next? Going to dig up the Confederate Soldiers? The same as Indians, they are part of our history and genetics too.

I look at it this way: it is part of history. You don’t see us at the Cherokee reservation showing out. Indians living back then could not help the way it was then, nor could we.

If anyone has been done wrong by far, it would be the Indians. They were here first and treated the worst. They were gypped out of their own land, schools, etc. I can’t help what people did back in those days any more than the generation of today and before them can.

I can say this: I didn’t know any of those people back in the day and they wouldn’t know me. None of us were alive that many years ago. We can’t turn back time.

Moving forward, why can’t we all come together and establish a few scholarships in Mr. George Floyd’s name? Why couldn’t we establish a scholarship, one for higher education, one for sports, perhaps one for medical school. Let’s do something constructive and not destructive. We could make Mr. Floyd proud. We all need to come together as we did after 9/11 and be as one. Peace.

— Gwen Johnson

China Grove