Letter: Whitehorn's visit provides opportunity for dialogue

The reactionary response of the Duke Conservative Union to Laura Whitehorn's invitation to speak at the University is hypocritical. This is an issue of freedom of speech, a freedom that conservatives love to support - except when they dislike the message. In a day when the word "terrorist" is thrown around to label anyone who is seen as slightly threatening, we should be mature enough to engage people with different perspectives instead of ignorantly dismissing them.

Whitehorn is a political activist who has done substantial anti-racist work for over 30 years. While in prison, she started HIV/AIDS programs and wrote for various publications. Whitehorn's activism has included working with the civil rights movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Movement, the New Afrikan Independence Movement and the Puerto Rican Independence movement. She has fought against the white supremacy of the KKK and has continually spoken out for women's and gay rights. Her experience with these movements gives her a unique perspective to share with the Duke community.

Whitehorn has also spent 14 years of her life in prison. She was convicted in 1985 of "conspiracy to oppose, protest and change the policies and practices of the United States government in domestic and international matters by violence and illegal means." At that time, the United States had just invaded Grenada and had recently shelled Lebanon. These actions were part of a long-standing imperialist policy of U.S. military foreign interventions. Because there was no militant reaction to these events in the United States, Whitehorn wanted to draw attention to these crimes that caused harm to so many people. She helped set a bomb that destroyed part of an empty conference room in the U.S. Capitol. It took months of planning to ensure that no one would be killed or injured in the action.

Whitehorn grew up as a pacifist, but working in solidarity with various freedom movements made her aware of the police, the government and the military's power to stop struggles for social justice. "We have to fight back on their battlefield," she said. As for her political bombing, her stance is resolute: "We were not terrorists. Terrorists target and terrorize civilians, and we never tried to hurt anyone."

Even if one does not agree with her tactics, it would be difficult to make an argument that she would not be an interesting person to dialogue with and learn from. We applaud the University for protecting free speech on our campus and encourage all Duke students to learn more about Whitehorn's political activism. Out: The Making of a Revolutionary, is a powerful documentary film about her life and her journey. The film will be shown Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. in Social Sciences room 139. Whitehorn will be speaking as part of the Teaching Race, Teaching Gender series at Duke March 3.