Love-Hate Mail

It was the best if times, it was the worst of times As a staunch supporter of immigration, I was pleased to read “The Nativists Are Restless” (Nov. 30). But as I read the article, I became increasingly distracted by the author’s Dickensian portraits of the closed-border malefactors. Tobia let the reader know that the Rev. T. J. Graham was “an immensely corpulent black man with eyes that bulge a full quarter-inch out of his head.” Tobia’s most devastating description was reserved for the book-banning Robin Minor, a “round, doughy white man with a small brushy mustache, his hair parted severely to the right and plastered to his skull.” Rather than mocking Minor’s “pudgy finger wagging in front of his face, his other hand hitching up his pants,” why not take on his ridiculous view that “[t]here shouldn’t be no books in [the li-bary] that I can’t read”? Tobia could have interviewed Minor and asked if this policy—which Minor intended to disqualify books in Spanish—would also apply to, say, selections on quantum electrodynamics or non-Euclidean geometry. This would have been far classier than calling Minor a fat bald guy. ROBERT P. MURPHY RMurphy@laffer.com (Nashville) Geography lesson How ironic that European-descended people want immigrants to “go home” (“The Nativists Are Restless,” Nov. 30). While Latinos were, as Kit Brewer put it, “making tacos,” we came here, uninvited and unwanted, in a massive, genocidal wave of immigration that overwhelmed North America’s truly native nations. The largely indigenous Latinos are much more “at home” here than we Europeans. And how ironic that the current situation was created by our political leaders, Democrat and Republican, who pushed through NAFTA and the WTO, which have devastated Latin America’s economies and severely eroded ours. There’s no work there—that’s why they come here. In America, we have lost high-wage manufacturing jobs as our factories move to China, leaving once-well-off Americans resentfully scrambling for the same low-paying jobs that look good to Latinos. Sixty percent of all jobs in America now pay less than $13.50/hour, and 40 percent pay less than $10/hour. It didn’t used to be like that. The problem is not the Latinos. The bad actors in this drama are the legislators and executives of America, who are getting richer at our expense—and pushing us to blame the Latinos for it. When enough Americans come to our senses about this con game, the resulting political earthquake will make last month’s shakeup feel like a minor tremor. MARTIN HOLSINGER martinholsinger@nashville.net (Nashville) Southern hospitality How sad it was to hear the hate-filled sentiments of some Tennesseans regarding immigrants in our midst (“The Nativists Are Restless,” Nov. 30). How much we are missing when we are not welcoming of other cultures. When I lived overseas several years ago, natives of that country sought us out. They hoped, like we did, not only to learn another language and about another culture, but they were also clearly excited about creating possibilities for friendships across the world. In reading the story, it became clear that those of us who feel differently must be vocal as well, or else the voices of hate and fear will be the only ones heard. All visitors bring gifts into our lives and our culture. Let’s not be so afraid of differences that we miss out on those blessings. REV. JODI MCCULLAH jodimccullah@bellsouth.net (Madison) Taking sides I would like to thank P.J. Tobia for “The Nativists Are Restless” (Nov. 30). I really love his style. His ability to make all anti-illegal immigration people sound like overweight, paranoid, discredited, loner freaks and everyone who is pro-illegal immigration sound like modern, intelligent, enlightened people is perfect. It insults the intelligence of the readers and by doing so encourages people to take a positive role in our country’s history by becoming active in standing up against the invasion of all illegal aliens. Thanks, P.J., for turning more people toward our side. KYLE WAY kyway13@hotmail.com (Nashville) We’ll stick with “B-list” Your cover story, “The Nativists Are Restless” (Nov. 30), contained a number of half-truths and skewed references. Some of those were about me. Of particular note, your reporter wrote that I “particularly dislike” professor Katherine Donato of Vanderbilt University. For the record, I do not know her; thus, I neither “like” nor “dislike” her. I simply disagree with her assertions and conclusions. Your article did not reference the column that I wrote (“Silly Immigration ‘Experts’ ”), so that readers could judge for themselves. The column was actually very pro-immigrant (including my own family). Your article also threw in half-quotes from previous columns regarding Martin Luther King Jr.—even though such references have nothing to do with the topic of immigration. It is a documented fact that King’s friend and editor, Stanley Levison, handled funds from the KGB for the Communist Party of the USA. That is not “racism.” It is truth. Your article contradicted itself by saying that the candidates present at Rev. Graham’s rallies were “strictly B-list.” The same article noted that I was a major-party candidate for Congress. Perhaps your paper has a different definition of “B-list” than the rest of journalism. Interestingly, your article made several references to Rev. Graham’s rallies as though they were “news,” even though the rallies were several weeks ago. You didn’t cover my speech during the election season, but mention the rallies and use my photo (with no caption) weeks later—in an article that quotes several people with very uninformed views. Do you actually consider yourselves journalists? TOM KOVACH campaign@tk-05-tn.net (Mount Juliet) Leave Lee alone Buddy Lee was a gentleman. Your story of his alleged, so-called love child (“Buddy Lee’s Love Child,” Nov. 30) should’ve appeared in The Fabricator column, not as a true news story. That a lot of people who never knew Buddy Lee now hold an unfounded opinion of him solely based on your sensational headline is an injustice to Mr. Lee, his family, the artists he represented, his peers and anyone who knew the man and held him in high regard. It’s certainly easy to attack someone who has passed on and cannot defend himself. Your defamation of the character of a man who had done so much for so many was classless and much more suited for the tabloids. JOHN E. DENNY dennytunes@aol.com (Nashville) Church choir That was an awesome editorial (Garrigan, Nov. 30)! I agree wholeheartedly. Unfortunately, that editorial is preaching to the choir, so to speak—the wing nuts won’t read it. BILL BILLINGSLEY bill.billingsley@gefanuc.com (Albuquerque, N.M.) Mock fight I can’t believe you printed the article by Lindsay Ferrier on unschooling (Suburban Turmoil, Nov. 23). Not only does she mock what she does not know about, but her writing skills are inferior. Who starts sentences with ‘and’ anyway? This is an affront to unschoolers, homeschoolers, gardeners, flowered dress wearers and even snake handlers. Personally, I don’t think any of these people like being lumped together. Please consider printing articles in the future that don’t mock huge segments of the population. I found her article to be juvenile at best. ANDREA HERMITT ahermitt@gmail.com (Lawrenceville, Ga.)