I am very distressed about the portrayal of some of the events at Carrboro High School outlined in your piece “A hard year for the schools.†Although Mr. Thomas was ousted from Carrboro High School, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Mr. Thomas worked diligently for Carrboro High. While there were areas in which Mr. Thomas needed to amend in order to build a more cohesive and positive environment, I know he was willing to make those changes. Unfortunately, he wasn’t given the opportunity to learn from those mistakes and to develop a new set of skills.
However, we should not dismiss the staggering amount of time and effort Mr. Thomas dedicated to the school.
Secondly, in your summary about “Racial slurs used at CHS†there was a glossing over of an essential fact surrounding this event.
There is no doubt that racism and racist language is repugnant and debasing. However, the act of violence that occurred subsequently has been dismissed, even lauded as an appropriate act of retaliation.
Neither act of aggression should be tolerated and to continue to only point out only one side of a wrong serves to deepen the divide in our society.
M. LLE. Arant
Chapel Hill