FROM OUR READERS

Talking about George Mason the Man

➤Regarding the letter in the Spring 2021 magazine stating that George Mason wanted to abolish slavery, and the letter in your Summer magazine stating that Mason was an abolitionist ahead of his time: Mason called for the abolishment of the foreign importation of slaves but not the abolishment of slavery. The cited comment that he would sooner chop off his hand than sign the Constitution was not in reference to slavery but generally reflected other Anti-Federalist views. Mason did state at the Constitutional Convention that he believed slavery to be a “national sin,” but he continued to own more than 100 slaves and failed to free any upon his death.

John Rand, MA ’16

Be Careful What You Wish For

➤In the Summer 2021 issue, “From Our Readers” featured discussion about President Washington’s Anti-Racism Task Force. The arguments defending the task force seem to be that racism still exists in America, including at GMU, and therefore the anti-racism task force is a good thing. This, of course, is a non sequitur.

My concern is that “anti-racism” as typically promoted is a deceptively named, overtly racist, intolerant, secular religion that sows racial division in furtherance of a neo-Marxist power grab. At institutions across the country, people of good will are being subjected to “anti-racism” indoctrination where they are required to espouse racist ideas they do not believe, are judged based on their skin color, and are required to judge others likewise. Dissenters have been bullied, harassed, demeaned, defamed, and fired. This is how “anti-racism” initiatives typically manifest. Will President Washington’s Anti-Racist Task Force produce better results? I hope so. It might, as predicted by one reader, “create a truly transparent, open, and welcoming community at Mason.” What are the odds?

Frank Jaeckle, MS ’92

Turtle Power

➤I was surprised and delighted to see an article on wood turtles (“New Research Coming Out of Its Shell”) in the Summer 2021 issue of Mason Spirit. Wood turtle research has a long history at Mason. I was there in the early 1970s when Dr. Carl H. Ernst was beginning his more than 30year Mason career. Carl was a world-renowned herpetologist (especially as a turtle researcher), and his first love was studying wood turtles in southern Pennsylvania, which he continued throughout his time at Mason. Carl retired from Mason as professor emeritus in 2004, but in his earlier years, he was a jack-of-all-trades for the Biology Department. I still remember how much I enjoyed taking classes from him in vertebrate zoology, ornithology, and herpetology, and I had the honor of being one of his first of many graduate students.

Steve Wunderley, BS ’70, MS ’74

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