With four television cameras, three spotlights and several microphones located throughout the room, a two-month media frenzy came to a surprisingly subdued end when political activist and convicted felon Laura Whitehorn spoke to a group of about 80 people in the John Hope Franklin Center Monday.
Whitehorn - an editor of Pos magazine, a publication geared toward HIV-positive individuals - was originally to give a talk on HIV infection in U.S. prisons as part of the African and African-American Studies Program's "Teaching Race, Teaching Gender" series. Her selection as an on-campus speaker drew fire, however, when the Duke Conservative Union brought to the media's attention Whitehorn's past as a women's liberation and civil rights activist who spent 14 years in jail after pleading guilty to bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1983.
A national press blitz ensued in late January, culminating in critical commentary from The Wall Street Journal and several news shows. Adjusting for the hype, Whitehorn changed the focus of her talk, spending the first portion of the presentation discussing HIV and AIDS and the remainder answering questions about her political activity and time in jail.
"It's a test of whether you really want to see democracy if you support people who are really marginalized, and that means people on the far left," Whitehorn said, addressing the DCU's concerns that the administration had glossed over her past as a militant activist. She thanked the Duke administration and the AAAS and women's studies programs for asserting her right to speak.
Although two conflicting hand-outs circulated the room - the DCU's initial advertisement in The Chronicle denouncing Whitehorn and a Gay City News article written in her defense - the atmosphere throughout the speech remained calm. AAAS Director Charles Payne, who had prefaced the second part of Whitehorn's presentation with a request that audience members respect differing opinions, praised the group for its civility.
Whitehorn corrected information that appeared in the DCU advertisement, which argued that in a 1985 raid of an apartment occupied by Whitehorn, the FBI found "weapons, including an Uzi semiautomatic 9 mm, a .38-caliber revolver, and a .22 automatic pistol," among other illegal items.
"That was the FBI's version," Whitehorn said, referring to the accusations. "It was not a stockpile of weapons. I had a few."
The DCU had also charged that the raid yielded "diagrams and photos of potential bombing targets," which Whitehorn said was actually a road map.
But details aside, the biggest question for many was whether Whitehorn considered herself a terrorist - nd whether she felt her actions were just. Her answers, however, remained ambiguous.
"I don't really even care that much whether people think I'm a terrorist or not," Whitehorn said. "These labels have everything to do with your own politics and not much with what the people do."
She continued to explain her notion of terrorism. "I was taught that terrorism is the purposeful targeting of civilians to force government to do something," Whitehorn said. She added, however, that she was "not that dumb, or idealistic or whatever" to think that bombing a room in the Capitol could change U.S. foreign policy.
Whitehorn also apologized for stating in 1983 that the lives of individual members of the ruling class and government are not sacred. "I am personally sorry that I said that," she said. "Every life is sacrosanct."
Although she retracted her earlier statement about the value of human life, she did not apologize for the Capitol bombing itself. "I'm unrepentant," Whitehorn said. "I'm proud of my motives. But I do not promote anyone going in an armed struggle."
During the first part of her presentation, Whitehorn talked about her experiences in jail in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., during "the horror days" of AIDS.
"All you knew was that they told you you had AIDS and that you were going to die," she said. "That was about it."
Throughout the speech, Whitehorn cited a need for better AIDS education within the prison system, treatment for inmates with hepatitis C and continued improvement in race relations and in tolerance of homosexual inmates.
"I used to say, 'Unless someone does something really dastardly to you, every human being deserves equal respect and love,'" Whitehorn said. "People said, 'Are you sure you're not a nun?'"
Many audience members seemed pleased with Whitehorn's speech.
"She kind of explained the circumstances, motivations [behind the bombing]," said Tonisha Mitchell, a second-year graduate student in education. "Now she questions whether or not it was a good idea and doesn't mind if we question it as well."
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