Slusher: To grow, we all need to challenge our ideas

One of the frustrations of my job as editor of Opinion in the Daily Herald is the presumption some readers make about our motives when we publish expressions of opinion with which they strongly disagree. Overlooking what I would consider to be abundant examples of diversity, these critics affect an "Aha!" tone as they declare some specific item proof positive of the Daily Herald's subversive "liberal" or "conservative" mission.

At least two recent items in particular - one a political cartoon, the other a guest column - have stirred such scoldings.

The political cartoon was an image drawn by Kevin Siers of the Charlotte, Virginia, Observer following the weekend when President Donald Trump published a series of tweets urging four congresswomen of color to leave America if they don't like it here. Many people considered the tweets to be racist, and many complained that the Republican Party did not sufficiently object to the president's characterizations. Siers' cartoon was a bold depiction of that philosophy. It showed the president in a white hood and robe typically associated with racism, tapping away on his smartphone, while, emblazoned with the acronym GOP, Charles Schultz' famous character Linus sucks his thumb and clings to the hem of the president's garment as if it were his security blanket. Some critics thought it insulting to show the president wearing a racist symbol and said it demonstrated our liberal bias. I could only respond that the very next day we carried a cartoon depicting Colin Kaepernick alongside a clearly sleazy image meant to depict someone from Nike gloating over images of workers making just $2 a day. We don't keep a running tally of liberal, conservative and middle-of-the-road cartoons, but we do strive to have all perspectives reflected during any given week.

Earlier, we took heat for a column we published by Charlie Kirk in which the young Wheeling High School graduate described why Illinois' taxation policies have prompted him to make his home in Florida. We should not have published the column, critics said, because Kirk's organization, the conservative Turning Point USA, has been accused of various acts of offensive racial or social behavior. I could only respond that we've published guest views from many liberal as well as conservative representatives, and furthermore this essay had almost nothing to with Turning Point USA.

We believe the Opinion page should be a space for discussion, debate and satire from all responsible points of view on the issues suburban residents care about. I select or approve almost every expression that is published, and I often allow images or ideas I disagree with and sometimes present positions I abhor. I share them, because I think it's important that we all be challenged, that we confront ideas that make us uncomfortable and that we find ways to understand where they come from - either so we can help change the minds of those who hold those beliefs or so that we can grow ourselves.

Of course, I sometimes reject certain cartoons or columns as inappropriate or too offensive. But my primary goal, and that of the paper, is to present a reasonably well distributed selection of ideas from along the entire length of the spectrum of political and social commentary. It is, I believe, a fundamental tenet of democracy and the spirit of free speech that in the end, the ideas that emerge to govern our society must do so through their own power of persuasion and they can only legitimately persuade if they are examined against contrary views from all perspectives.

So, if you encounter views on the Opinion page you find objectionable, try these options: One, remember that you're free to respond with your own point of view in a letter to the editor. Two, take a moment to consider why a reasonable person would hold the opinion to which you object. Or, three, wait a day or two; you're sure to see expressions from your own perspective that will comfort or even inspire you.

Jim Slusher, jslusher@dailyherald.com, is deputy managing editor for opinion at the Daily Herald. Follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jim.slusher1 and on Twitter at @JimSlusher.