To the editor:

This letter is in response to a letter from Patti Almanza and the story from Saturday about how bad it is to live here in Richmond County.

You call my county the worst; I call my county the best — we might be poor, but we are proud. I am glad I can call my male friends good old boys. Black and white. Because what “good old boy means” is this:

He is a man who you want to sit down with and just talk to; he’s a good person . You go hunting and fishing with this man. This man in time, in some cases, is closer then your own brothers. He knows his word and his handshake means everything to him. But this Patti Almanza wants to make it sound like it is a dirty word. You want to put racism into every foul word that comes out of your mouth.

I am sorry, Ms. Almanza, that you feel this way, but you will never take the pride out of me or my people — be they black or white, we are all Southerners. We have pride; you might want to drive a wedge between us, but it will never work . You need to go and live with Al Sharpton and peddle your hate with him. It will not work here in Richmond County.

You want to take our Southern heritage away from us and forget about the brave men of the South who went into battle in some cases with only sharp sticks. They fought with nothing, but they still fought. These men never owned slaves, they were the poor of the South. They were proud men who would not be pushed around by outsiders, then or now.

You can say the war was fought over slavery, and that’s fine with me. The war was also over economics: The North wanted what the South had, that being cotton. Believe what you want to believe, I cannot stop that. Slavery was wrong. Slavery was wrong. I said it twice so you will understand me and my words. For my people were slaves also. The only difference is we came from Europe.

If you don’t believe it, read a little bit of history. The history of indentured servitude. You might look at things a bit differently after that.

But now I will tell you about me and my people. When my people came to this country, we were indentured servants. So you will understand what that means, this is the definition: A man or woman who has to pay for their passage to the New World. That payment was in the form of 20 years of labor. In most cases, that was 20 years as a servant — a servant being no more than a slave.

Life expectancy at that time was from 35 to 40 years of age. We came across at the age of 15 to 20 and older. As you paid the price of passage, in most cases you died while serving your master. This was no different; it was wrong, but it was legal. It was not right, but it did happen.

My own story: I was in the fields at 5 years old. As a child, I picked my share of cotton — this took place in the 20th century, not in the 19th century. I know what it is to go home so tired that you could not eat. I also know the feeling of the cotton bolls that were open and the small spikes in the tips that made your fingers bleed.

The only thing we had for the pain was red oil. It didn’t matter if you were tired the next day, you got up anyway. We picked for 1 penny per pound. Some people could pick 200 pounds, most only 100 pounds. I never could get any more that 50. I was a child.

There were no fat people in the fields; they all looked like scarecrows. There was never enough food. We did what it took to live. This was Southern life during the late ’50s and early ’60s. If it were not for pig fat and cornmeal, most of us in the South would have starved to death. So don’t play poor old pitiful with me and call on the race card when it is convenient for you.

If you think the people in Richmond County are so bad, then just leave as soon as possible. We do not need the likes of you to spread hate between the races. Take your rosy red rectum and leave and let the residents live in peace. We get along, until people like you from the outside come in and try to drive us apart. It will not work.

Poor is poor in the South — black or white, we know what being poor is all about. To be Southern is to take pride in oneself, and in one’s family and community.

This trash that came out of that RoadSnacks website is nothing more than a joke written by some PUNK outsider. They do not live in my county; they do not know my people — black, white and brown-skinned. We might not have a lot of money. But we have a lot of damn pride. Money is not everything . Those who think it is are a bunch of hypocritical losers.

So to RoadSnacks I say this: Shove your nose where the sun does not shine. This negative B.S. is from the outsiders who do not know our county or its people. The economy — sure, it’s bad in some cases, but it’s the same all around this entire country.

I am not afraid to live here. I would much rather live here in Richmond County that anywhere in this country. We have no more problems than any other small city. But I say to all who think the way of RoadSnacks: Just leave as soon as possible.

We do not need the negative element in our county. Love it or leave it. Stand up for our Southern lifestyle. We are good people. We are proud Southerners.

Robert Lee

Rockingham