During the 1960s, I was invited to a meeting at the home of Bert Mills with four other men to discuss some of the social problems that existed in and about Lawrence County.

At that time, President Lyndon B. Johnson had declared his “War on Poverty.” We were encouraged to meet in certain places in each state and county to enhance what could be done to elevate our communities by sharing ideas and discussing problems that existed socially in our communities.

As we examined the proposals that were presented, we felt that that is what was needed to enhance our communities.

I was one of the two who was appointed to go out and see if we could test the communities to see how the people would react.

As we went to the different groups, i.e., ministerial association, medical association, political people and other groups, we were met with a mountain of hostility.

The group that was most venomous with the worse hostility was the politicians. Over and over as we tried to explain our objectives, we were called communists and socialists. The program nearly failed. However, to make a long story short, the program succeeded, which is now called the “Ironton-Lawrence County Community Action Organization.”

This program was and continues to be a tremendous success.

Those people who are so prone today to label president-elect Obama as a socialist and even a communist because his plans are socialistic, much like the CAO concept, should decide whether or not they want the “community action concept” to prevail.

REV. HENRY C. FLETCHER

South Point