Letter to the Editor: Editorial Discretion Needed

Thank you to the Door County community and all the volunteers that helped organize the Fall 50 on October 21. The Door County Fall 50 is a celebration of running and nature, yet I am disheartened by what happened at the awards ceremony:  A best team name award given to “Drunk Wives Matter.”

It’s not funny. It’s disrespectful, and makes light of the very real fact that black men, women and children are disproportionately killed by the police.

Would it be OK to mock men with testicular cancer by turning the “No One Fights Alone” slogan into “No One-Balled Man Drinks Alone” or change the “Autism Speaks” slogan to “Autism Drinks?” Or what about changing the March of Dimes slogan “A Fighting Chance for Every Baby” into “A Falling-Down Drunk for Every Baby?” Are you still laughing?

Is alcoholism funny? An estimated 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

It’s the epitome of privilege to be able to name a team something that makes a joke of Black Lives Matter and win a prize for it. It’s not helpful in furthering the types of constructive conversations this country needs right now.

When I posted the paragraphs above on the Fall 50 Facebook page, Race Director Sean Ryan’s response concluded with, “If my staff and I have to start analyzing which team names in a list of 500 are offensive and ineligible for use or awards, we won’t have time to plan and produce the event. So the Fall 50 will remain proudly non-PC.”

Mr. Ryan misses the distinction between policing for political correctness and rewarding a statement that mocks a civil rights movement in our country. A little editorial discretion from the race leadership would go a long way toward making the Fall 50 event more inclusive. Mr. Ryan’s initial response makes it clear that inclusiveness is not a goal for his event.

Katrina Hull

Milwaukee, Wis.