To the Editor:

Apparently, slap-stick comedy is alive and well in little Selma, Ala. Rose is loose again. When I read the Rev. Fortier’s letter in Sunday’s paper, it would have been difficult not to be amused. Who else could the attorney-in-question be other than our resident comedian Rose Sanders?

Is there anyone among the readers who would not have guessed?

I have been in only two public meetings with Mrs. Sanders, but she managed to break up both of them.

In fact, she almost started a riot in one of them.

Could it possibly be that she attempted such a thing in a courtroom? I wonder! Do certain people have a constitutional right to shout down others in public places so that opposing views cannot be heard and so that proper procedure of meetings and courts is ignored?

Why is it that some of Selma’s black citizens have constitutional rights to conduct themselves and their business in ways that the rest of us do not have?

I am under the impression that we all have the same rights. Why are some of us guaranteed (by constitutional rights?) the authority to by-pass judicial and legal procedure, laws and ordinances and others of us are not? And, then for extra entertainment, get a group of 25 or so cronies together and call it a rally of support? Too much already!

I think it’s really stupendous that someone has, after decades, had the courage to say “enough” to Mrs. Sanders.

It seems her family never will. I sometimes wonder about the reticence of the good senator and if he ever has any regret concerning his wife’s behavior.

Where else but in Alabama could such antics be tolerated – and particularly in a politically minded family?

On the lighter, brighter side, every family has its “black sheep” and every southern town has its “characters.” To be without either would make life a lot less interesting.

Mrs. Sanders has been providing first rate entertainment in Selma-Dallas County for decades and, though she has lost some of her finesse, she still hangs in there.

After all, some comedians just burn out after so long.

Any comments, Selma?

Cecil Gayle