Both commission sides must reach out

Sorry, but I must take exception to the Jan. 12 Chronicle editorial, "Taking the first step," with the subhead: "White commissioners must reach out to help create a united Augusta."

Excuse me? Why is that?

Do you mean whites are the ones who abstain from voting or just don't show up for meetings? If you're not the problem, why must you always give in to those who are? This is part of the problem.

If you are going to have a color-blind society, both sides have to work together for a better Augusta. What is wrong with both sides reaching out? From what I have read in the paper and seen on television, the African-American commissioners reach nowhere to do anything unless it is going to help them in some way.

All citizens of Augusta deserve representation from all the commissioners all the time. There should be no polarization. Neighborhood racial divisions should be abolished. It should be possible for any Augustan to ask for assistance from any commissioner, no matter what their racial background is. That's not the way it is now, but until that changes, nothing else will change either.

Your editorial should have been favoring harmonious cooperation instead of what it implied. One side should not have to do it all, all the time. Both sides need to give in for the good of Augusta. As an analogy to the Taco Bell commercial:

Where your neighborhood and district are the bun, you need to think outside the bun.

Seth Benson, Millen