Letters

Winter 2002/2003

SLAVE-OWNING PRESIDENTS

I very much enjoyed Bob Peterson's article about presidents who owned slaves. Last year I had tried to find data on the subject and had such a hard time - and I'm a reference librarian - that I created a website on the subject. (www.nas.com/~lopresti/ps.htm)

My research disagreed slightly with that of Bob's class. I found that 12 presidents owned slaves (eight while serving in office). I was very interested in the students' calculations of the percentage of time the government was led by slave owners. That statistic hadn't occurred to me. I will put it on my page, and link to the article as well.

You might also want to look up Robert Carter III (which is how I got interested in the subject). Carter was a wealthy Virginian who freed more slaves than anyone else in American history. It is easy to say (and many do) that people like Washington and Jefferson didn't know any better; their neighbor Carter demonstrates that they did. See the websites: www.nas.com/~lopresti/mentime.htm and www.coax.net/people/lwf/hb_rc.htm

There is one more important detail I think Peterson's class glossed over. Why didn't Lincoln free the slaves in the North? Lincoln believed that slavery was protected by the Constitution. He said he had no right to overturn it EXCEPT as a war measure in the rebelling states. You can doubt his explanation, but it is unfair to ignore it.

Robert Lopresti
Bellingham, Wash.

TIMES NEEDS ROTHSTEIN

On Oct. 29, the New York Times announced that it was printing the last of Richard Rothstein's weekly columns analyzing issues in education. Executive Editor Howell Raines has decided that Rothstein's column did not fit into the Times' plans for education coverage.

The decision is unfortunate. Rothstein brought deep insight into education issues to a wide audience that included both professional educators and lay people. His columns were always of the highest quality, containing rigorous and precise analysis. Rothstein had a particular feel for the classroom and the nuts and bolts of teaching and learning that gave his analysis a perspicacity not found on the education beat of any other national newspaper or magazine. And his willingness to be honest and forthright about where the facts took him is quite rare in public commentary on education -- something to be treasured.

We must not allow such a decision to take place without protest. It is essential that the New York Times receive a large volume of protest mail from classroom teachers and others in education. Readers of Rethinking Schools can address letters of protest to:

Howell Raines, Executive Editor and Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., Publisher New York Times 229 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036-3959

Leo Casey, Brooklyn, N.Y.

HELEN KELLER

I am writing to commend you on your excellent article about Helen Keller in the latest edition of Rethinking Schools. Helen Keller was a founding trustee of our organization, and her very full life - with all of its radicalism and fortitude - continues to inspire our efforts to prevent blindness and save lives.

You are correct when you say that few people really understand the extent of Miss Keller's activism or the extremity of her views. Thank you for trying to advance that understanding and dispel the myths that surround her.

Jennifer Kirby
Helen Keller Worldwide
New York, N.Y
www.hkworld.org

Winter 2002/2003