September 26, 2008

On September 22, 2008, the Baton Rouge Advocate ran a column by rightwing pundit Thomas Sowell that compared Democratic Presidential Nominee Senator Barack Obama to Hitler (”Talk alone won’t get job done,” 9/22/08.) Sowel’’s column was inaccurate, outrageous, and highly misleading - all par for the course for him. His attempt to be somewhat oblique by making the point that Obama and Hitler both drew large crowds is merely a way for him to play the “Hitler card,” a tactic that generally means that the writer has no case to make.

We are more disturbed, however, that the Advocate chose to run this column. You have a choice of syndicated columns to print. You chose to print one comparing Obama to Hitler. You chose to provide a forum for the “Hitler card” to be played. In the process you are providing legitimacy to this propaganda tactic by serving as a willing venue for such rhetoric. Many of our families had members who were either victimized by fascism, or sacrificed to oppose it during World War II and other conflicts. We therefore do not see providing a forum for comparisons of the Democratic candidate to Hitler as a trivial matter.

This is not a free speech issue. We are not challenging the Advocate’s right to print whatever it wants, and we realize that printing an opinion piece does not necessarily entail agreement with it. We are questioning, however, why this particular choice was made. Free speech does not entail immunity from being questioned or challenged, especially for media outlets with the capacity to influence many people. Printing an opinion that should be out of the mainstream of American political discourse generally requires some explanation. If the Advocate felt that Sowell’s column was the best one available, then that indicates a more serious problem.

Sincerely,

Barbara Nielsen
Baton Rouge

Janice Bonner-Davis
Slaughter

Christine Bruno
Baton Rouge

John Daigle
Baton Rouge

Eleanor Earle
Baton Rouge

Darla Edwards
Baton Rouge

Sonya Feeney
Baton Rouge

Carla Florsheim
Monroe

Mark Gonzalez
New Orleans

Tina Henderson
Lacombe

Lisa Hubbard
New Orleans

Michele & Ulrick Jean-Pierre
Baton Rouge

Givonna Joseph
Baton Rouge

Vicki Lancaster
Baton Rouge

Martha Martin
Baton Rouge

Alicia McLaughlin
Baton Rouge

Ashley Michel
Baton Rouge

Maisha Nash
Baton Rouge

Bonnie Porter
Baton Rouge

Lynn Schlossberger
Baton Rouge

Owen Scott
Baton Rouge

Joseph Stern
Baton Rouge

Brandon Thornhill
Baton Rouge

Rachel Coleman-Thornhill
Baton Rouge

Eboni Townsend
New Orleans

Aglaia Venters
Baton Rouge

Charmaine Venters
Baton Rouge

Matthew Weaver
New Orleans

Stacie Williams
Baton Rouge

Beatrice Winkler
Baton Rouge

Susan Spillman
Baton Rouge

Jimmie Brackin
Walker