When we care more

In your Nov. 18 article "Prostitution blights a part of Raleigh's heart," your use of the word "blight" is interesting. Is the neighborhood blighted because of prostitutes, or because there are problems in the neighborhood that lead to drug use and prostitution? Is the blight that sex is swapped for cash, or that the system has failed these girls who have nothing left to sell but themselves?

It makes clear our value of human beings when a neighborhood resident feels he must describe someone as "a bad lady." While she isn't helping society, that does not make her "bad." It only shows she has made poor choices. Only when we see the inherent good in our neighbors and their potential for redemption will we be moved to help them.

When Raleigh residents care more deeply about our neighbors' quality of life than our own, we will be inspired to clean up the "blight" of poverty, to mentor a fatherless boy, to volunteer at the Women's Center or to get at the root of the problems in our neighborhoods. Perhaps then we would not need to be shamed that such issues exist "just six blocks from the governor's mansion."

Bill Cummings

Raleigh