While I agree with the letter writer that the fate of Vito Perrone at the hands of the Easthampton School Committee was a mishandled event, the writer offered no evidence of other people being “fired and disciplined” as a frequent occurrence of “cancel culture,” a right-wing appellation [“On speech, expression and tolerance,” Gazette, May 17].

 Indeed, in what some people find objectionable — using racial and gender slurs and stereotypes to characterize certain vulnerable populations — others defend as their free exercise of their First Amendment rights.

I disagree with this latter position and think it threatens public discourse. In fact, I contend the current public record actually demonstrates that the Republican right has literally canceled our culture by assaulting public schools and libraries, colleges and universities that dare to offer their students a comprehensive multicultural curriculum and broad choices in reading selections.

Indeed, PEN America records that from July 2022 to December 2022, there were 1,477 instances of individual books banned, affecting 874 titles, including those by Nobel laureates and Caldecott Prize winners.

This sudden turn to book banning has been spearheaded by at least 50 national and state conservative organizations, including eight groups that have 300 local or regional chapters that have sent out proscribed book lists. The overwhelming targets of their wrath are African American historians and fiction writers and LGBTQ+ writers. Thirty-seven Republican legislatures have introduced measures to limit how race and discrimination can be taught (or not) in the public schools.

As someone from the “paranoid left” in the letter writer’s characterization, I am far more afraid of the Republican Trump/DeSantis-inspired neo-fascism than I am of individuals advocating for respect and tolerance of all people. In that spirit, I agree with the writer that more civility and understanding is needed in our public discourse.

Susan J. Tracy

Amherst

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