News

The Shame of Our City

Week of November 14, 2001

The Shame of Our City
Symptoms of gross neglect: As a 15-year resident of Old Town Fenton, I watched in tears as the "Pyramid" (as we called it) was excavated [Jeannette Batz, "Grave Losses," Oct. 31]. Over and above the crimes against human history perpetrated by these predatory developers, we also have to swallow hard the fact that our government paid them to do this. We have kicked three of the city jerks out but are still stuck with six of the good ol' boys, so in essence we still cannot stop dishonest city management despite a new, terrific mayor.

It has been obvious for some time that the city of Fenton mishandled the Gravois Bluffs project. I have a few questions: Perhaps Fenton's planning-and-zoning man, Franz Kraintz, will explain why Fenton paid [developer] G.J. Grewe to destroy the burial mounds. Cal Rea, working for the state, told me at that time he had spent most of his last several years in office almost exclusively riding herd on what he considers the mishandling of the human remains unearthed on one of these sites or trying to prevent the destruction of the known unmarked burials. Why did he have to? These are all symptoms of gross neglect on the part of some Fenton board members, as well as some present and former city officials. I am growing tired of apologizing for my community instead of boasting about it as I once felt able to do.
Marlin Mackley
Fenton

We feel guilty for working on that project: As someone who worked on that particular project, I was pleased to read a tempered, relatively balanced discussion of that fiasco. So many of us who were there carry substantial guilt at being present for the project. It was nice to finally hear something that didn't blame everything on the archaeologists, who tried to do the best possible work in the worst possible circumstances.
Name withheld by request

I'm never going to the Fenton Wal-Mart: I have lived in Fenton all my life. I love this town, but after reading the article "Grave Losses," I feel cold and sickened at the sight of my own street. It is very important to me that everyone knows that we, the citizens of Fenton, did not know what was found on that hill in February of 1999. I have always thought my little river valley is so beautiful and truly believed that we were not the only ones to enjoy its splendor. I cannot believe our own natural history was destroyed because Wal-Mart wanted a new building. I refuse to ever go to that store, and I would bet that if more people were aware of the travesty, I wouldn't be the only one driving the extra five miles to Kirkwood for my shopping needs.
Patrick Moran
Fenton

Laws aren't enough to save our heritage: The flattening of these mounds may be the most poignant symbol of our increasing ignorance and disrespect for history, elders and a sense of the sacred. This blindness and cultural arrogance is not the fault of any individual but a symptom [identified by] Robert W. Bly.

In his book The Sibling Society, Bly points out the historical events culminating in our destruction of "vertical" relationships. He writes: "Our society has been damaged not only by acquisitive capitalism, but also by an idiotic distrust of all ideas, religions, and literature handed down to us by elders and ancestors.... If colonialist administrators begin by attacking the vertical thought of the tribe they have conquered, and dismantle the elder system, they end by dismantling everything in sight. That is where we are. We are the first culture in history that has 'colonized' itself."

If this is true, legislation alone will not save our cultural heritage. We will need to reconstruct the minds and hearts of youth, but adults have to take primary responsibility for this.
John Stone
St. Louis

Bad Hair Piece
Let me have his job: In D.J. Wilson's "Short Cuts," we have a unverified nonstory about a nonincident to which this erudite writer was able to devote an entire column ["Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow," Nov. 7]. When you catch on that you are being taken by a columnist who writes nonstories about nonissues, can I have his job?
Joseph Reichert
via the Internet

Who's Unlucky?
No pity for this murderer: As a close friend of Angel Walker, the murder victim of Quentin Davis, I feel compelled to respond to last week's cover story [Bruce Rushton, "Unlucky Seven," Nov. 7]. In November 1999, Davis committed first-degree murder, confessed to the crime and handed over the weapon to police. While incarcerated, he was not suffering from any pre-existing psychological conditions like some of the other individuals mentioned in the article. Rather, nine months after killing Walker and realizing the severity of his situation, he was simply suffering from a bad case of self-pity, which led him to seek out a way to end his life. The fact that he obtained this "how-to" material from within the correctional institution is just a stomach-turning side note.

It was not only ignorant but completely unacceptable of the author to label Quentin Davis as "unlucky." The only unlucky people in this case were the innocent victim and her close friends and family who did not get to see Davis' punishment justly carried out.
Name withheld by request