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    • LOTD

    Filed at 7:08 am under by dcobranchi

    Life in Fayettenam:

    Racism doesn’t always mean hatred

    In response to Paul L. Burnley’s op-ed, “Racism in America has many causes” (Oct. 15), I would like to state that, according to the first definition in the dictionary, there is no hate attached to that word. That definition is belief in the superiority of a particular race. Note the “a,” i.e., not necessarily one’s own race.

    Objectively, there is no superior race. Only by applying subjective criteria is one able to make a subjective determination. One may observe the civilizations created by the various races and arrive at one’s own conclusions. Of further note here is the fact that the Good Lord gave to all humans a natural proclivity to seek the company of and procreate with those of their own kind. So, I suppose one could blame God for “racism.”

    Sadly, it is politically correct to say, “I’m black and I’m proud.” but quite politically incorrect to say, “I’m white and I’m proud.” That, in itself, is all that is needed for me to condemn political correctness.

    Frank Novotny
    Fayetteville

    I really wonder sometimes about the decision-makers at the Fayetteville Observer. They claim to hate the “Fayettenam” label but seem to do everything they can to keep it alive by publishing crap like the letter reproduced above.

    3 comments »

    3 Responses to “LOTD”


    Comment by
    Jeanne
    November 6th, 2007
    at 12:43 pm

    I wouldn’t necessarily blame the newspaper. Sometimes printing this sort of thing is what holds a lens up to it and makes a community unable to hide from its own ugliness. Editors make difficult decisions to do this, not because they want to propagate the thought or the image, but because they know that “sunshine” is often part of a remedy.

    I’d rather know and be offended than not know, you know?

    Comment by
    Daryl Cobranchi
    November 6th, 2007
    at 12:59 pm

    That’s exactly what the editor told me via email yesterday.

    People like that thrive if we leave them under their rocks. If we expose them to daylight — and the rest of the community — and discuss what they’re saying, we get better, and healthier. Getting rid of Fayettenam means confronting its remaining traces.

    I didn’t completely buy the argument:

    So can I look forward to said “discussion” in the form of an editorial? If not, you just gave a racist access to the biggest megaphone in town.

    Look– You hold the keys to the only area-wide forum available. You don’t have to publish every racist letter from the rock-dwellers. Could the leader of Stormfront or the KKK get a LttE printed in the paper? I know I wouldn’t want to read one with my morning coffee.

    Yes, the antidote to disagreeable speech is more speech. But the FO is not the street corner. You’re not the government. Not printing a racist screed is NOT censorship. Let the racists and the bigots preach their brand of hate under their rocks (and on the internet). We really don’t need to grant them another venue, do we?

    Comment by
    Jeanne
    November 6th, 2007
    at 1:29 pm

    So, you can probably tell my opinions were formed as a journalist. Mr. Editor and I share a common bond.

    Gotta disagree with you on this one. Rare, I know. But that racist megaphone is like an unflattering magnifying glass.

    The newspaper’s letters section is not a Chamber of Commerce publication.

    I don’t want a newspaper to protect me from discomfort with my morning coffee. For that, I watch TVLand re-runs.

    But I drink tea. A la Captain Picard: Earl Grey, hot.