I am writing to express my disappointment over the recent controversy regarding Columbus Day and Mr. Matthew Hale. The inability of the parties involved to initiate a meaningful dialogue was a disgrace to the university community. The university should ideally be a place where people of varied backgrounds meet to exchange ideas, searching for the wisdom to exercise freedom wisely. However, the ideal broke down, and we saw two sides flinging the dung of ignorance and intolerance back and forth across the political fence.

Mr. Hales defensive tone was troubling. It indicated the he, like many other whit Americans, is unprepared to accept the inevitable place of racial injustice as an issue in both historical and contemporary discourses. To live happily ever after with Mr. Hale’s ill-informed historical fairy tale is to effect injustice on history itself.

Some of Mr. Hale’s opponents, unable to respond thoughtfully or responsibly to his ignorance, resorted to shallow attacks on white history, vague and mind numbing calls for diversity, and downright name-calling, despite the fact that Mr. Hale’s views should be dismissed out of hand by anyone of modest intelligence. Mr. Hale was blasted as a whit supremacist and unfortunately, a faculty member felt compelled to paint Mr. Hale as a Neo-Nazi Fuehrer in an otherwise well thought out letter.

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The tactics employed by Mr. Hale’s opponents illustrated the hypocrisy and intolerance which today permeate American universities. The university left advocates diversity in viewpoint but, simultaneously, cannot abide those asserting the superiority of their beliefs. Those who attempt to defend an unfashionable point of view become the targets of ruthless attack. Therein lies the paradox:when the university community can no longer tolerate a man like Mr. Hale (no matter how foolish or even dangerous he seems), we can no longer stand for anything as a community. And inflammatory language should find no place in this university; it will only serve to divide us. Recent events in Israel have demonstrated what can result when discourse breaks down.

graduate student, dept. of history