I am writing in response to the Opinion piece that was written by Ed Blackman (“A new era of slave catchers”) and posted in the March 15, 2007 publication.

I do not pretend to know what current immigrants’ daily hardships are like in their native lands and I don’t doubt they are probably very difficult indeed. But I feel that historical accounts of the inhumane horrors and injustices that slaves had to endure — in this land that they were forced to come to — year after year, and even century after century, far exceeds that which the New Bedford, or other, immigrants are experiencing today.

While the accounts of the immigrants’ ordeals, as related to us in the news, are sad, and while any compassionate person will have sympathy and anger for the fearful time that they experienced when they were gathered up that awful day, it is unfair and incorrect to compare their story to the experiences of the African slaves of long ago.

When my ancestors were brought here, they were made to give up their names, their languages and the cultures of their native land — and were thereby unable to even trace their origins. These things were not done by choice. In the very laws of their captors, they were considered to be mere property and did not earn any wage at all. No wage, for all the endless backbreaking work of building the wealth of this country years ago.

So again, while being sympathetic regarding the tragedies of today’s immigrants who have fled to this land for a better way of life, and while hoping good things for them, let us not equal or compare their plight to the indignities and evils that my ancestors had to endure — the effects of which still touch us deeply even today.

Barbara Nicholson
Mattapan

A response to street violence in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan

I have listened and watched while city officials, church leaders and many others try to solve this crisis. Let us all stop for a moment and truly examine that the most important people in this “crisis” — the parents — have been repeatedly bypassed by all. They need to police their children.

It’s time for the parents to step up to the plate. Shake down your children and their rooms. Know their friends and their whereabouts. We have cell phones now — track them. There is no need for this added frenzy. Here’s the list of alternative probabilities if you don’t take action now: lawyers; jail time for your child; bail; a wasted life if arrested and found guilty; death; a parent’s grief, shame and guilt.

Too often, parents think the most important time of a child’s life is from infancy to their early teens. This is wrong. Your children need you more than ever from their early teens to their mid-20s. They are not asking for all the latest expensive trends. They are seeking your attention and quality time spent with them. Try it, parents, and you’ll see the difference. Stop looking to city officials, police and the Angels from New York to do your job of “positive parenting.” You are the solution.

Susan Stephen
Via e-mail