6 Comments

Methinks thou dost protest too much. It's not the accusation that I complained about. What I don't like is that neither you nor Curtis cites any solid evidence. You published the accusation referring to an unsubstantiated quote. You could have checked with him with a simple email.

There's no point in continuing with this if you are not able to see what you did is wrong. So take one more shot if you want and we're done.

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Don't palm that excuse for sloppy reseach and writing off on me. Playing with a person's reputation is not a game. You should have asked Curtis for his sources before writing what you did.

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You write about David Embury: "But Embury was wrong about a lot of things—including the fact that he was a racist who worked against desegregation during the 1940s (Wayne Curtis wrote about this a few years ago.)"

I looked at the reference to Wayne Curtis' article, where he states, quoting Embury as saying “'I think that every bird-lover must admire both the red-breasted robin and the golden oriole… No one, however, expects to find both of them in the same nest,' he wrote in 1948, the same year his book was published, and, then, regrettably, he went on: 'Keep in mind that whenever you get close social conduct, marriage invariably results… Negroes dancing with your sisters and sweethearts.'”

Curtis cites absolutely NO source for his quote. While I am not saying that Embury did not have racial views that we would condemn today, I believe that before you attack him for those views and accuse him of campaigning to put them into practice, you ought to have solid, demonstrable evidence, especially since he is not alive to defend himself. Your reference is to an article that itself references no hard evidence. Is there any?

Ken

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