Incidentally, I was planning to head south this winter for a nice Christmas break, but will now avoid South Carolina. Please join me in emailing support for a boycott to Mr. Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the state director of Parks Recreation and Tourism. His email is medmonds@scprt.com

What's interesting is that South Carolina's beaches are a major tourism attraction, according to this McClatchy story

Here's my letter:

Dear Mr. Edmonds,

I believe that more folks will boycott South Carolina's beaches until your representatives can help to improve the feeling that South Carolina lacks culture and sophistication, especially a tolerance of diversity in an ever-increasingly diverse society.

You may be aware that Idaho worked hard to build an image as being a tolerant place after Neo-Nazis made their headquarters there, and recent comments by an elected official about getting "Obama tags" only hurt that effort. What was heartening about Idaho's other elected officials was their immediate condemnation of the racial joke and the call to recognize Idaho's increasing diversity and tolerance.

Unfortunately, the lack of response to Rep. Joe Wilson's comments on Wednesday only increases my hesitation about traveling to your state. I had planned to visit the South this Christmas, but do not want to interact in a place where only the "good ole boys" are welcome. Your representative's remarks, and the context in which they were made, convince me that my dollars should not support a state already being boycotted by the National Newspaper Publisher's Association for a lack of civility to the African American culture.

Until your spokespeople can reassure the rest of America that Rep. Wilson does not represent the norm for your state, I cannot see how you hope to attract progressive, youthful, modern vacationers to pick your beaches over various other Southern States. So many of us vote with our dollars, as the remarkable effort by colorofchange.org has shown in reducing corporate funding of hate speech.

Thank you for listening. If your office does plan to make a statement about how Rep. Wilson does not represent South Carolina's stance on diversity and tolerance, please feel free to respond.

Sincerely,
formerwriter (which replaces my actual name for this diary)
school teacher

Incidentally, I was planning to head south this winter for a nice Christmas break, but will now avoid South Carolina. Please join me in emailing support for a boycott to Mr. Marion Edmonds, spokesman for the state director of Parks Recreation and Tourism. His email is medmonds@scprt.com

What's interesting is that South Carolina's beaches are a major tourism attraction, according to this McClatchy story

Here's my letter:

Dear Mr. Edmonds,

I believe that more folks will boycott South Carolina's beaches until your representatives can help to improve the feeling that South Carolina lacks culture and sophistication, especially a tolerance of diversity in an ever-increasingly diverse society.

You may be aware that Idaho worked hard to build an image as being a tolerant place after Neo-Nazis made their headquarters there, and recent comments by an elected official about getting "Obama tags" only hurt that effort. What was heartening about Idaho's other elected officials was their immediate condemnation of the racial joke and the call to recognize Idaho's increasing diversity and tolerance.

Unfortunately, the lack of response to Rep. Joe Wilson's comments on Wednesday only increases my hesitation about traveling to your state. I had planned to visit the South this Christmas, but do not want to interact in a place where only the "good ole boys" are welcome. Your representative's remarks, and the context in which they were made, convince me that my dollars should not support a state already being boycotted by the National Newspaper Publisher's Association for a lack of civility to the African American culture.

Until your spokespeople can reassure the rest of America that Rep. Wilson does not represent the norm for your state, I cannot see how you hope to attract progressive, youthful, modern vacationers to pick your beaches over various other Southern States. So many of us vote with our dollars, as the remarkable effort by colorofchange.org has shown in reducing corporate funding of hate speech.

Thank you for listening. If your office does plan to make a statement about how Rep. Wilson does not represent South Carolina's stance on diversity and tolerance, please feel free to respond.

Sincerely,
formerwriter (which replaces my actual name for this diary)
school teacher