A recent letter to the editor (“Where did students in D.C. confrontation learn bigotry”) displays the reason our country is so divided. In her letter, Roxanna Cardenas states that she knows she does not have all the facts but also observed a degree of “white, entitled privilege and gut-punching bigotry displayed.”
In the videos I watched I saw a young high school student, Nick Sandmann, standing face to face with Nathan Phillips, a well-known political activist. I did not see Sandmann utter a single word during the video. I did not see any taunting or harassing as she described. It is my understanding the Covington Catholic High School students were in D.C. for a Right to Life March and during the confrontation the students were chanting “school spirit chants.” It is also my understanding that both these activities are protected under the Constitution as freedom of speech.
One other fact is that Philips and his group approached the Covington students so who is ultimately responsible for the confrontation. As for Mr. Phillips being a Vietnam War Veteran, he served during the Vietnam era but was never stationed in Vietnam. I thank him for his service but that does not give him any more right to express his view than the high school student. Maybe Cardenas was confused by the things being shouted by the Black Hebrew Israelites, as described in the Herald article, who were clearly exercising their free speech rights without any condemnation.
Again, this incident shows the power of social media to skew the facts. This is not news or journalism it is a snapshot of an incident that can be edited and posted to present someone’s view. Unfortunately, it seems we are now living in a time where if you do not agree with what happening you simply label it as bigotry.
Gerry Bowlby
Lake Forest Park
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