Dear sirs:
In Alan Bisbort's 6/5 column ("Hate Speech; Now is not the time for quiet, well-thought rhetoric"), he refers to a quote I made on FreeRepublic.com, ("Hell, what would it look like, a body swinging from a rope!") within an ongoing conversation about the proposed "slavery memorial" in Washington.
Mr. Bisbort cites my quote, along with another from that conversation, as an example of "hate speech." First off, I am a black man, and secondly, I stand by that remark. Honestly, it was my first reaction to the notion of a "memorial" to slavery. If Mr. Bisbort had taken the time to review the remainder of the conversation, as opposed to taking comments out of context, he would have found that many of us who are opposed to such an endeavor expressed our disdain in more or less colorful language. However, the "hatred" that Mr. Bisbort implies was not present.
In one post in that same conversation, I posted a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from myself, within the bounds of my position a member of the National Advisory Board of the Washington-based black conservative group Project 21. My letter is also posted on my website at http://mhking.blogspot.com/. In that letter, I point out the reason for my disdain of the proposal, and I dare say Mr. Bisbort - or anyone else for that matter - would only find "hate speech" in my letter if were attempting to paint any dissent as "hate speech."
Hateful? Not at all. Challenging what I see as folly? Absolutely.
Sincerely,
Michael H. King
National Advisory Board Member, Project 21
Mableton, GABill