"It was with more than casual interest that I read Ron Johnson's letter to the Argus Leader on Aug. 23. He gave explanation of an ad he had submitted earlier about not renting to jerks, deadbeats and to people who could not speak English. Hey, welcome aboard. His words sound familiar. Indian people made similar mistakes much earlier with deep regret. The list of errors in judgment include:

# We got lax in our immigration laws.

# We should have insisted on first conducting an environmental impact study.

# We should have left well enough alone that first terrible winter. Instead, we started the first welfare program in this country. We offered food (rations) and tracts of land (reservations). They called them colonies and instead of building houses, they built forts.

# Finally, we should have insisted they learn our native languages."

Get the Story:
Sid H. Byrd: Indian regrets (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 9/8)

Related Stories:
Ron Johnson: Rental ad (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 8/25)
Editorial: Landlord wrong in running ad (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 8/15)