Letters: Critical Analysis

I have to wonder if Chuck Prochaska even bothered to attend any of Elaine Brown’s talks this week. If he had, he might be familiar with the idea of critical analysis; as Elaine said in her talks, a correct analysis will come to a correct conclusion. There are too many fallacies in Chuck’s column for me to fully analyze, so I’ll pick out a few to focus on.

“America-hating” is not an accurate description of the Allen Hall community. In fact, I would venture to say, judging from those that I know within Allen Hall, that a deep-seated love for the United States and what it is supposed to represent often motivates much of Allen Hall, and much of the University community, to have an interest in speakers like Elaine Brown, Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.

Another especially interesting fallacy, Chuck, is your idea that the existence of the Black Panther Party was a bad thing. The BPP, with or without its “redeeming qualities,” as you termed them, brought a level of consciousness and direct involvement from the African-American population and supported movements attempting to advance the rights of other communities (e.g. the American Indian Movement and the movement for LGBT rights.)

If violence makes an organization “misguided,” Chuck, and I’m not saying it doesn’t, then this entire organization we call the U.S.A. has been pretty “misguided” for the last 200 plus years. In fact, I believe, in my far-from-humble personal opinion, that our society would be nothing short of enhanced by a rejuvenation of the demanding push for social justice and equality, and especially by the rebirth of the Black Panther Party.

Kevin Cates

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