Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era

Stereotypical view of Angela Davis

To NEW ERA Editors:

Columnist Paul Gottfried is, of course, perfectly free to criticize Angela Davis for her ideas and purported actions as a member of the Black Panther movement (Feb 1). However, it is a pity that he chose not to go hear Prof. Davis speak at Elizabethtown College, for he would have discovered that there's more to Angela Davis than the cartoon version that he presents in his column.

While Davis has moved on from those old wars, Gottfried evidently has not. Besides, it seems churlish to chide Elizabethtown College for inviting Ms. Davis when, as Gottfried concedes, it allowed Ann Romney to hold a campaign event on campus.

Just as students protested against the controversial Romney visit, Prof. Gottfried could have shown up at Davis' talk and engaged with her arguments rather than writing a column about an event that he did not witness himself.

Mark Harman

Manheim Township

(Editors' note: The writer is Professor of English and German at Elizabethtown College.)