To the editor:
I thought it was interesting how hypocritical Bill Hanharan’s editorial “Tim Wise is Wrong to Connect Race with Attitude” was. His argument was interesting, but it was overshadowed by the sweeping generalizations he made about political ideologies, which is what he supposedly condemned Tim Wise for doing regarding race. Making statements like “folks on the far-left tend to portray America in a more negative light” than those on the “center-right” and saying that liberals see racism as the cause of every problem was unfair and untrue. By attributing certain beliefs (though where these supposed beliefs of the “far left” came from is unknown) to every follower of a particular political ideology Bill Hanharan is doing the same thing Tim Wise apparently did in his lecture. This, in my opinion, invalidated Mr. Hanharan’s argument, which would have been very interesting if he discussed it without all the political rhetoric.
–Megan DiGregory, student at WCU
To the editor:
In response—
Ms. DiGregory’s commentary is much appreciated but the fact is that people who support the tea party and other right wing groups are going to tend to have strongly predictable views as are people who support Code Pink and other left wing groups. Political ideology influences how one views the 9/11 attacks and how good or bad America is. That is because such matters are indeed political matters. The politically motivated 9/11 attacks are not a racial issue at all. Maybe there is a correlation between black Americans and a certain view of 9/11 attacks (black voters tend to be more liberal leaning) but it is not racial in nature, it is still political.
Whether race influences the political ideas of certain black or white Americans is another question entirely. Even if it does, it is, at best, an indirect relationship to attitudes about the 9/11 attacks. Furthermore, when I said liberals tend to see racism everywhere, that was hyperbole. But there is a school of thought that some of the left subscribe to—critical race theory—which holds that there is very little to nothing in the course of human interactions that is not influenced by race or racism.
–Bill Hanrahan, Op-ed Editor