The inability of different groups in this community to compromise threatens the fabric of Selma.

Recently, on a radio program, threats were made against people and government organizations if the courthouse was not named for J.L. Chestnut Jr. The measure was voted down. The people in charge — members of the Dallas County Commission — promised they would come up with an alternative. Indeed, the the government entity and some others wanted to wait until tears dried and emotions settled to take any kind of action honoring Chestnut, the first black attorney to set up a practice in Selma.

But Monday, the winds blew again — dangerous winds that could rip our community apart.

This is wrong. We need to sit down at the table and talk about the issues and agree to disagree or compromise or work out a solution.

Name calling and threats do nothing but fire up emotions. Strong-arm tactics — for or against renaming the courthouse — do not work in this world of the 21st Century. These type tactics do nothing but create resentment.

We in Selma live in the past enough. The past is gone. All of us should have learned our lessons from it. It’s time to take another kind of attack. It’s time to work through issues, instead of seeing who can shout the loudest or threaten the worst public harm.

We have so many other greater issues we all need to join hands to solve.

Let’s not get lost.