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• The May 4 article by Alan Sloan [page 1A] featured an interview with Cathy Hinners, who sowed hate-speech locally without giving it appropriate context. Ms. Hinners said/implied that Muslims in East Tennessee are so eager to gain sympathy that they stage hate crimes against themselves. She has a paranoid vision in which Christians and Jews should avoid any sort of interfaith activities that involve Muslims, presumably because such friendships and partnerships serve only to spread Sharia Law. I dare say most in the Knoxville area see through this sort of hate speech.
A quick visit to the given website reveals an extremist agenda that supports radical Islamophobes such as Geert Wilders of the Netherlands and Marine LePen of France. It is incumbent upon journalists everywhere, including small town local papers, to provide appropriate context. It should be pointed out that Ms. Hinners has no particular expertise about Muslims and that her views are in fact in league with views at the most extreme margins of Western society. I know many Muslims in East Tennessee. Each of them are honest, hard-working people. One of them runs a great restaurant in downtown Knoxville. He brought his family to Tennessee in order to flee the destruction of the Syrian Civil War. I encourage readers to view this video to see his story, and rejoice in how American a story it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz4Q_SlbZgQ
(Editor’s Note: Cathy Hinners was not interviewed by Alan Sloan. Instead, the story was coverage of Hinners’ speech, as featured speaker, during ACT For America’s monthly meeting Thursday, April 27. There was no pre- or post-speech interview).
• I received my farragutpress [May 4] and was absolutely appalled and disgusted that you gave such a highlight [to] Cathy Hinners and her hate speech towards the Muslim community in Knoxville. You could have spent more time on that first page discussing the suicide rate at Farragut High School instead of this hate-mongering.
• I am not for censorship, but I am very disappointed that the farragutpress did not exercise more editorial discretion before printing the article on Thursday, May 4, about Ms. [Cathy] Hinners and the ACT [For America]. That is nothing but propaganda.
• After reading the comments from [Farragut Alderman Louise] Povlin [a page 1A story in May 4 issue] regarding her position on the removal of grant funds for Hardin Valley Academy, she must realize some Farragut students are still attending HVA due to Knox County Board of Education mandates to be there. It is totally unfair to cut funds for our children who attend HVA due to boundary lines. Ms. Povlin seems to be confused that the money is used for “in-structure” advancements, not “infrastructure” refurbishing. As both of us are alumni parents of HVA, I am hoping Ms. Povlin, who is on a board that wishes to serve everyone in our community, would want to include our current neighborhood students who still attend HVA with equal importance with future funding. Until the last student from Farragut has graduated from HVA, no funding should be cut or eliminated.
• I was dismayed with the article on Cathy Hinners in the farragutpress. It was a highly one-sided article that insinuated with the tone that all Muslim people are bad. It reinforces hateful stereotypes and beliefs founded by fiction and lies rather than by fact and truths. The writer should have presented Hinners side and then the additional views that represent the large majority of America and the world. Based on my brief research, Hinners promotes a whites-only culture, which by most people is considered racist and hateful. Every individual who is not of Native American ancestry comes from immigrant blood in the USA. It is sad that your paper chose to print a one-sided article that essentially endorsed a hateful, un-American viewpoint that suggests it’s OK to target an entire group of people because of their skin and their religion. Why didn’t the writer discuss the fact that the Oklahoma City bombing was carried out by a group of non-Muslim white men? The shootings at Columbine and Sandy Hook were carried out by white males. Color of skin and religion don’t make people bad, it’s the hate in their hearts and the environment they are subjected to growing up and as adults. Last, but not least, it is unethical to write a headline from an individual not qualified to offer “a warning” because Hinners and Sloan do not have the intelligence background or information to make that kind of assessment. I have a family member in the FBI that works on terrorism cases and that individual has never said that all Muslim people are bad. The headline Sloan used serves to incite fear and hate. Yes, I believe that terrorists should be investigated, tried and punished like most people all over the world. I believe in an America that is tolerant, kind, respectful of differences and one that offers equal rights to all citizens. We all deserve Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I hope in the future you will ask your writers to report in an unbiased manner and that you do not allow articles that use fear and hate to scare people into believing the story to be published.
