Pubdate: Mon, 16 Feb 2004 Source: Times-Picayune, The (LA) http://www.nola.com/archives/t-p/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1076914521212260.xml Copyright: 2004 The Times-Picayune Contact: http://www.nola.com/t-p/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/848 Author: Elayne W. Vigne Note: Series-Related Letter to Editor YOUNG PEOPLE LEARN CONTEMPT FROM THEIR ELDERS Re: "Cycle of death: The battle with no end," Page 1, Feb. 11. Articles such as these show that the young are being desensitized to violence. They are seeing, hearing and believing that acts of violence are the natural circumstances around their birth. Or their death. Most of these attacks are clandestine in nature. Why testify? The key question is: What about the witness protection program? Witnesses seem to turn up dead anyway. Why don't the programs work? Is that a rhetorical question undeserving of an answer? In dissecting any culture, evidence will show that every culture carries in itself a subculture. Why do we give so much attention to a subculture? Why do we still have murder and mayhem hot spots in the year 2004? Killings that turn out to be cases of mistaken identity are just a way for the urban terrorists to say, "Can you hear me now?" They are a way of controlling people by striking fear into their hearts. As a mother who has suffered such a tragedy, I understand that jealousy and envy breed contempt and then, sometimes, violence. Holding a grudge against other families for many years should be a crime. Stop it! Openly expressing your general dislike for certain families in front of the younger generation is wrong. Children are like sponges sucking up everything, and then they grow up with the very same contempt for the very same family. Elayne W. Vigne New Orleans