Open Letter to Walt Baker, CEO of the Tennessee Hospitality Association

Dear Mr. Baker,

As you know, Tennessee isn’t known for its intellectual prowess when being compared to the rest of the country. The school systems here regularly rank at or near the bottom in most subjects, including overall literacy. There are also a number of stereotypes out there regarding Tennesseans that are very insulting. Most of them have to do with being uneducated, inbred, racist, or a combination of the three. Tennesseans are also known for being overly-religious in their political beliefs–which was confirmed in the 2008 elections when Tennessee picked the reverend Mike Huckabee in the primaries. As a Tennessean, I am often saddled with all of the above characterizations as well as homophobia.

The point of this letter, Mr. Baker, isn’t to insult you or to encourage you to resign from your position due to your open and blatant racism. No, the purpose of this letter is simply to request for you, and people like you, to move out of Tennessee. Yes, you read that correctly. I want you, and those like you, to pack up your belongings, sell your house at a fair market price, and leave this state.

I was born in Indiana but have lived in Tennessee for most of my life. I married a Tennessee girl and we’re raising two Tennessean children. We enjoy the mountains, the wonderful town we live in, and our community. We root for the Vols and the Titans and we try our hardest to be upstanding members of our community. We are raising our children to be open-minded and tolerant of those who are different from them. The bottom line is that we love it here. We will likely grow old together and die here. We won’t leave.

I’ll be honest, each time I hear of some high-profile Tennessean displaying their overt racism, I start thinking about moving my family. I cannot stand the thought of my children growing up to believe that the color of someone’s skin makes them less-important or inferior. Seriously, it’s bad enough that we live in one of the most homophobic states in the entire country, but we have to be one of the most racist too?

I’ve given up the idea of moving my family. I love this state too much for that. Instead, I’m going to assume that you love this state just as much as I do. I’m going to request that if you love this state that much, then move from here. You and people like you are bringing this great state down. We have so much potential here but people like you create the two steps back for every one step forward scenario that has plagued us for so long.

I’m not asking you to change. I have a racist grandfather and father, so I know how fruitless it is to make that request. The fact is, you won’t change–so I’m asking you to do the most logical thing: leave. I’m also not asking you to change your political beliefs. Don’t. You are entitled to whatever political beliefs you have. For the matter, even I don’t agree with Obama with everything. But then again, I don’t have to and neither do you. That is what makes this country great. What I want you to do is help make Tennessee greater by leaving. Please.

Sincerely,
Eric Ragle

P.S. Could you take Sherri Goforth and Brent Gobbell with you when you go? Thanks!