Air Date: Week of February 7, 1997

Letters from listeners on recent segments.

Transcript

CURWOOD: Most of our mail this week came in response to our report on black farmers in Arkansas. Many of them are struggling to hold onto their land. The story struck a nerve in Howard Motyl, who was listening while driving from Chicago to Des Moines. He writes, "Your treatment of racism in the segment was amazing. It was presented as an issue without becoming an issue. As I drove I became more and more infuriated at the electric company that refused to give power to the black family, and became even more infuriated at the banks refusing to provide loans to black farmers."

Katherine Jenson, who listens to us on WBTF in Roanoke, Virginia, says she was impressed at how knowledgeable the farmers were about sustainable agriculture. She says, "I found it very touching and very impressive. I really want to compliment you for something that was quite outstanding."

Finally, this comment from Pat Borne, a listener to WHYY in Philadelphia, about our reports on the efforts to save the Barton Spring salamanders in Austin, Texas.

BORNE: More power to people who will sue the Federal Government for not doing its job. The government is not producing these safeguards to our drinking water and our clean air. And if we have to go and sue Bruce Babbitt and Al Gore and the United States to protect a salamander to keep our water clean, it's a sorry state of affairs, but I want to applaud you for bringing it to the public's attention.