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Tomorrow the Duke Conservative Union will run an add in the campus paper that says the following:
"The African and African-American Studies Program at Duke University is funding a TERRORIST.
On March 3, the African and African-American Studies Program (AAASP), along with the John Hope Franklin Center, the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, and the Women's Studies Program, is sponsoring a lecture at Duke University by LAURA WHITEHORN. Who is Laura Whitehorn?
Although the original AAASP advertisement for her talk disingenuously refers to her as a former "political prisoner," Laura Whithorn is a CONVICTED TERRORIST. In 1983, along with a group called the Red Guerrilla Resistance Unit, Laura Whitehorn PLANTED A BOMB IN THE U.S. CAPITOL BUILDING that demolished a section of the building.
The AAASP's original advertisement never mentions Ms. Whitehorn's terrorist activities. And it fails to mention that Ms. Whitehorn spent 1985 to 1999 in prison as a result of her bombing. And it also fails to report that Ms. Whitehorn feels no remorse for her actions; rather, she condones violence as a means to further her radical political agenda. The AAASP only changed its advertisement and admitted Ms. Whitehorn's crime after the Wall Street Journal -- which was informed of the AAASP's dishonesty by the Duke Conservative Union -- publicized the story on its website.
Why did the AAASP try to hide the truth? Why is it using student funds to bring a terrorist to campus? Why did it describe Ms. Whitehorn merely as a "revolutionary anti-imperialist" and a "political prisoner"? Wasn't Timothy McVeigh a "political prisoner," too? After all, Mr. McVeigh had radical political views of his own.
What's next? Perhaps the AAASP will bring Osama bin Laden to speak on campus; he, like Ms. Whitehorn, hoped to detroy the U.S. Capitol Building.
Tell the African-American Studies Program that you don't want it to use your money to condone terrorism E-mail the African-American Studies Program at: jhfranklincenter@duke.edu"
We will also post this soon on our website. The object is, of course, to show the AAASP that this is not an insignificant matter and call them to account for this speaker, by flooding their mailbox. We share in former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis's belief that "sunlight is the best disinfectant." Please feel free to post this ad in any public domain- the more exposure, the better.
Regards,
Bill English
President, DCU
CD