Grateful Slaves in Kitsap
Following is the text of my letter to the Kitsap Peninsula Journal. after Adele Ferguson's article opining that Blacks should view slavery as God's means of getting them to America.
Dear Kitsap Business Journal:
That you would publish such ignorant racism by Adele Ferguson is irresponsible enough. That you would evoke our Constitution's First Amendment to justify it is an offense almost as rank as Ferguson's hate-writing. Our precious First Amendment is the hallmark of free speech, not hate speech. It does not protect discourse or journalistic practices which do harm to the general welfare.
Pulling the article after it was published does not exonerate your paper from its responsibility in this tragedy.
There can be no amends for the damage that has been done. For minorities who work hard, believe in America, and love our freedoms, reading the work of Ferguson takes all of us back to the 18th century. There, we had to suffer the indignation of such attitudes as Ferguson's. There, we had to tolerate such patronizing and ill-informed speech propped up by our local press. There, we had to stomach such adolescent thinking passing itself off as professional journalism.
As a career media professional, I am ashamed of my trade today. Therefore, I reject her as a colleague, fellow journalist, and American. In the name of all that is good and free in our great nation, your paper owes all true Americans a sincere apology, as does Adele Ferguson.
How long will it be before we live in an America where such travesties are no longer tolerated?
Dear Kitsap Business Journal:
That you would publish such ignorant racism by Adele Ferguson is irresponsible enough. That you would evoke our Constitution's First Amendment to justify it is an offense almost as rank as Ferguson's hate-writing. Our precious First Amendment is the hallmark of free speech, not hate speech. It does not protect discourse or journalistic practices which do harm to the general welfare.
Pulling the article after it was published does not exonerate your paper from its responsibility in this tragedy.
There can be no amends for the damage that has been done. For minorities who work hard, believe in America, and love our freedoms, reading the work of Ferguson takes all of us back to the 18th century. There, we had to suffer the indignation of such attitudes as Ferguson's. There, we had to tolerate such patronizing and ill-informed speech propped up by our local press. There, we had to stomach such adolescent thinking passing itself off as professional journalism.
As a career media professional, I am ashamed of my trade today. Therefore, I reject her as a colleague, fellow journalist, and American. In the name of all that is good and free in our great nation, your paper owes all true Americans a sincere apology, as does Adele Ferguson.
How long will it be before we live in an America where such travesties are no longer tolerated?
