An Open Letter To Saffron Howden

On his blog, Bunyipitude, Professor Bunyip has responded to headline claims made today in Fairfax papers The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.

Dear Ms Howden,

I read with interest your report in today’s Age of, as the headline put it, Andrew Bolt’s "link to racist reviews" of Anita Heiss’ book. I have visited the Amazon site, read the reviews and comments, and I must say I am puzzled in the extreme. While many comments are acerbic, there is not one I can find that even the most dour appraisal of race relations could cast as racist.

As I am not a quality journalist, I fear I may have overlooked the posted comment(s) that inspired your headline (which I appreciate you did not write) and your first paragraph (which you almost certainly did write). Just to refresh your memory, here it is:

"RACIST comments published on US book retailer website Amazon about an Aboriginal author have reignited debate surrounding News Ltd columnist Andrew Bolt’s writings on indigenous people and drawn fire from Aboriginal groups."

Read the full letter at Bunyipitude