The record player was once a thing of glory. Not that it's gone, mind you.

Some people still use their turntables. Call it old reliable, but it beckons a feeling of worth and pride.

Of course, sometimes you run into problems. The occasional hiss and pop is a popular one. But you know you really have trouble when it starts skipping, playing the same song over. And over. And over.

Seems like we've been running into a similar situation on this page for the past few months.

I liken the editorial page to that turntable. It's the one constant section of the paper that, through the years, is still here. Sometimes, an issue will be repeated and generate discussion throughout the community.

That's good. We want to be able to provide ideas and solutions to various issues, along with reporting news that affects all of us.

However, there's sometimes an instance where an issue will be repeated to the point that it's unmercifully driven into the ground. It's even worse when there are no productive solutions offered.

We're now at that point.

This issue, that I'm sure many of you are familiar with, is immigration. It's almost May, but letters on this topic started last year. The majority of the letters were from residents who were unhappy with "immigrants" (see: non-whites) moving into the Austin community.

The letters have continued, and nearly all have not offered solutions on how people of all races can work together to help build and strengthen our community.

Plainly speaking, many of the letters are race-bashing in nature and, literally, are starting to sound like a broken record.

Just this past week, we received two similar letters. That's when we figured enough is enough and that for the near future, our acceptance of letters on this topic will come with conditions.

I made the first call to a frequent letter writer, explaining this decision and telling him we weren't running his letter. As expected, he was not happy. Even 20 minutes into the conversation, he still did not understand the point on why we were doing this.

I then asked him what the point was to his letter.

He replied, "People need to call their congressman."

Even if that was his point, numerous letters which were similar have implored people to contact various city, county, state and federal officials. On what, I don't know, but they've been urged to call or write them. In short, the same thing is being said.

We encourage people to write letters, expressing their opinion on a variety of topics. But letters on the topic of immigration that are race-bashing and/or don't offer productive solutions just aren't going to be accepted. It's time to move on.

Consequently, we're going to be more diligent on making sure letters that are critical of officials, businesses, etc. should offer solutions. Those who espouse their harsh and critical opinions without offering such solutions are, indeed, part of the problem.

This decision may not be popular. However, we're basing this more on what the responsible thing is to do.

No one wants to listen to broken records. But by working together and figuring out solutions, we can help make our community a better place to live -- regardless of the color of our skin.

Dan Fields can be reached at 434-2230 or by e-mail at :mailto:dan.fields@austindailyherald.com