I have seen all of the traffic on the "asst. Director position" thread this morning after returning from a long weekend out of town.
I would like to reiterate my plea for a measure of civility on this list - perhaps the moderator can make a statement to that effect to all current and new subscribers.
Mr. Herring's comments were out of line for a public forum such as this one. His remarks would have better served him, and his reputation, if they had been sent privately to the original poster. He has done no small measure of damage to his name in the museum community by not being conscious of the very public nature of electronic discussion lists.
Many of the responses to Mr. Herring, particularly those "calling him out" , add up to a virtual tar-and-feathering. To say that Mr. Herrings comments were inappropriate are fine, but to attack him personally and degrade him publicly is also out of bounds. Such virtupitive comments should be sent to Mr. Herring personally and not posted to the whole list. It is a mistake to venture to judge someone's entire existence soley on the basis of a single careless and thoughtless comment.
If the larger issues of affirmative action had been raised, as some of the commentary has suggested might be behind Mr. Herrings comments, then that would be a legitimate "issue" for discussion on the list. But Mr. Herring did not take this tact in his posting.
I would like to make a plea for everyone to take some time to be thoughtful of others and also be mindful of the public nature of this list before they send out their postings.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to turn-the-other-cheek and to ignore the ignorant that sometimes cross our path.
Cheers!
Dave
David Harvey
Associate Conservator,
Metals & Arms,
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
P.O. Box 1776
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187-1776 USA
Voice: 757-220-7039
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Indigo Nights [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, August 17, 1998 1:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Are we Reinvoking McCarthyism Here?
I went on record the other day--a day too late for my own
conscience--about the gaffe posted to the list. Now, I'm afraid we
may just be perpetuating another, and my conscience won't let me sleep
if I don't at least speak up.
I put the original post in the trash where, for my money, it belonged,
and now I do not know the name of the person who actually committed
the offense. However, as I believe I've seen posted here, the person
who commented forward it over the post or subject line of a Michael
something. My brain is feeble tonight, but I don't think the
offending party's name is not Michael, but something else.
The person who offered us the info about the Louis Armstrong home was
a Michael somebody. He did tell us he did not commit the gaffe,
someone else did.
If he's quiet, maybe we ran him off or maybe he doesn't want to
justify himself over and over.
I do not excuse the comments posted, but let's be sure, when we
crucify somebody (do we really need to do that?) that it's the right
somebody.
Does anyone have the post in question and/or is there an archive for
this forum so that the record should be set straight? It could
serendipitously be that there are two Michael's who posted on the
subject, but I don't think so. I want to say it was with an R, but my
memory is far too frail tonight (sick with a fever and just catching
up before bed) to say for sure.
Gayle M. Montgomery
aka
==
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]
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