Letter to the Editor: G. Tod Slone of The American Dissident
Last week, I received a rather curious Letter to the Editor from a G. Tod Slone, aka P. Maudit, who is the founding editor of The American Dissident, "a journal of literature, democracy, and dissidence." In it, he asked me to publish a political cartoon that he originally published on wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com that depicts SLC professor Marie Howe. The cartoon, his letter, and a second cartoon that he sent me afterwards are below:
P. Maudit
One of your professors, Marie Howe, is lampooned in a P. Maudit cartoon (see http://wwwtheamericandissidentorg.blogspot.com/2014/08/marie-howe.html). The message in the cartoon is a clearly stipulated pro-democracy one that should be of value to students at Sarah Lawrence. Thus, publish it… or get off the journalist track and find another profession or activity! Journalism is rotting away in America, as PC becomes more and more favored by journalists over truth, fact, and reason! Hopefully, your minds have not been infected.
Moreover, how can any journalist or student journalist accept without question or challenge the existence of a college literary journal accepting student submissions only if of a particular race? “Dark Phrases is an annual literary publication featuring the artistic work of students, faculty, and staff of color.” So, if I were a student, white, Asian, or autochtonous, at Sarah Lawrence, my work would be rejected on the simple basis of my skin color. Bravo! How does that possibly jive with MLK’s desire for a color-blind society? Is it not mind-numbing… or perhaps rather a question of fully numbed minds? Now, why not help calm MLK, who’s evidently rolling in his grave at the notion of a race-based literary journal, by exposing it for what it is: racist! Wow, has it really gotten that bad in higher education? Well, apparently it has at Sarah Lawrence!
Finally, why not get your librarian to subscribe to The American Dissident (only $20/year), which DOES NOT have a race-based submission acceptance policy. Look forward to hearing from you, though I’m quite used to the deafening silence.
Sincerely,
G. Tod Slone.
P. Maudit
Well, Mr. Slone, the 'deafening silence' is over now I guess. You got your wish, I published your cartoons. As an editor, I'm definitely interested to see how Dark Phrases responds to his remarks.
Wade Wallerstein
Editor-in-Chief