There's a difference between 'commemorate' & 'celebrate'

To The Daily Sun,

He’s baaack! For a long time, we did not read Doug Lambert’s extremism in the pages of The Sun. After all, he sort of went quiet after his insane antics a few years ago. He was fired from a radio show after he used a homophobic slur on the air to refer to the chair of the N.H. Democratic Party. He is so extreme that even other right-wing extremist distanced themselves from him.

Now, in his latest letter, Mr. Lambert decided to attack me and make false insinuations simply because I gave a lecture on the Russian Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. I gave that lecture on the centennial of that world-shattering event, an event from which there are repercussions felt even today. I grew up on Air Force bases during the Cold War knowing we were Soviet nuclear targets. The Cold War can be traced to the Russian Revolution.

I did not “celebrate” the October Revolution as Mr. Lambert falsely stated. Does Mr. Lambert even know the difference between the words “commemorate” and “celebrate?” Probably not. If I were to give a lecture on Pearl Harbor on December 7, would he accuse me of “celebrating” the Japanese attack?

Mr. Lambert did not attend my lecture although he was welcome to. I even tried calling him to invite him personally but his number is not listed. Had he attended, he would have known that I did not praise the Bolsheviks but simply gave an historical lecture on the reasons why Lenin and his followers were able to hijack a popular uprising and establish a dictatorial, one-party state. It was an event of historical significance.

As for Russian history being one of my “areas of academic interest,” that is true. It is one of many. But being interested in Russian history does not make me a communist any more than my keen interest in German history makes me a Nazi. I hate to say this, Mr. Lambert, but once again, you sort of made a fool of yourself. You remind me of the case of a high school history teacher from Meredith, who, during the McCarthy Era in the 1950s, was accused of being a communist simply because he knew a lot about Russian history. Even New Hampshire’s own “witch hunt” cleared him of those charges but he had to quit his job and move to another state because he continued to be harassed by people who think like you, Mr. Lambert.

Mr. Lambert, you said you “shudder” to think that I teach history and social sciences. I suppose to someone like you, academic freedom is scary. I am proud of my teaching and other activities at LRCC. I organize such “un-American” and “subversive” events as Constitution Day, Veterans Appreciation Day, and Women’s History Month. Actually, a conservative speaker was not going to attend LRCC’s Veterans Day event on Thursday, Nov. 9 because your letter had him believing that my lecture on Russia and the veterans’ event were the same!

As for what I teach in my classes, I teach such “un-patriotic” things as encouraging my students to read, to think critically, to understand other cultures, to get involved in their communities and the political process, and to register and vote. I even thank any vets in my courses on the first day of class for their service to our country. I have never graded a student on his or her opinion or ideology and that guarantee is in all my course syllabi. Academic freedom applies to students, too. Pretty un-American stuff, don’t you think? You should also know that when I write or speak, I speak for myself and not my employer.

Finally, Mr. Lambert, “I am not now nor have I ever been a member of the Communist Party.” The next time you write, at least know what you are talking about.

E. Scott Cracraft

Gilford