An Open Letter to PBS (it's going in the mail today!)

Pat Mitchell
President and CEO
Public Broadcasting Service
1320 Braddock Place
Alexandria, VA 22314

Dear Ms. Mitchell:

As a member of my local PBS station, I was disturbed by your organization’'s decision not to distribute the “Sugartime” episode of “Postcards from Buster.”

Before you make such a decision again, ask yourselves this: Do parents and guardians who don’'t want their children to know that lesbians exist actually let their children watch public television -- the wasteland of multiculturalism, home to countless shady characters such as Barney, Ernie and Bert, girls who like math, fornicating animals and (heaven forbid) scientists?

Where is the conservative praise for the inclusion of a fundamentalist Christian family in “Postcards from Buster”? Why bow to pressures from people who want to destroy public broadcasting no matter what?

I understand that you serve diverse constituencies and must defend yourselves from attacks on many fronts. However, caving in to pressures from groups who just don'’t like public anything (I assume you are not one of those people) is "a “peace in our time”" strategy doomed to fail.


From “Education Secretary Condemns PBS Show”, Associated Press, January 25, 2005

"Ultimately, our decision was based on the fact that we recognize this is a sensitive issue, and we wanted to make sure that parents had an opportunity to introduce this subject to their children in their own time," said Lea Sloan, vice president of media relations at PBS.

Which “sensitive issues” will PBS protect Americans children from next? From now on, will the “Between the Lions” lions never be shown eating non-kosher, non-halal meat? Will Maya and Miguel speak only English? Will Inez and Jackie of “Cyberchase” stop asserting their logic and reasoning abilities, or at least stop exposing their knees?

During my own childhood, the fearful cries of a powerful minority did not prevent Mr. Rogers or “Sesame Street” from dealing with death, a patently sensitive issue with truly profound philosophical and spiritual connections. Yes, children’'s programs did occasionally err on the side of the PC (now practically a dirty word itself) with all of the strangely colored muppets that looked like no one. But at least PBS programs dared to show children like me learning and playing at a time when many people were still physically fighting to keep us out of their schools and neighborhoods.

When an education institution, private or public, attempts to deny the existence of a people, it cannot be motivated by sensitivity. It is more likely moved by tyranny, that evil our President claims to be fighting.

Please serve public broadcasting’'s true constituencies by promoting tolerance, if not love and understanding, to children.

cc: Joe Caliguro, U.S. Department of Education, OII Technology in Education Programs
Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education
William J. Marrazzo, WHYY President and Chief Executive Officer
Brigid Sullivan, Vice President for Children's Programming at WGBH