Letter to the editor

I’m appalled that The Panolian would publish the vile column I had the displeasure to read in Tuesday’s paper about how disgusting Ray Mosby thinks fat people are. He has the audacity to claim that his thinness is genetic, yet that everyone who is fat is a slovenly over-eater with no self control.

Good for him. I don’t know if I’m more angry about the fact that he wrote something so blatantly discriminatory or that The Panolian saw fit to publish it. This man is not a random citizen who fired off a fat-hating letter to the editor. He publishes a newspaper.

I’m sure the people whose obesity is caused by a medical condition, disability, or medications they have to take in order to survive are thrilled to hear that their weight problems can be solved by simply eating less.  Obesity is a problem, but mocking people in a public medium is not going to make the problem go away. For the record, thinness is not an accurate indicator of good health.

I thought we all learned in Kindergarten that making fun of people isn’t nice.  That’s all this column is — a pitiful comedic attempt at the expense of an entire group of people the author considers less than human simply because they are fat. It’s easier to separate ourselves from our fellow humans if we think we are morally superior based on their physical traits and forget that we are ALL human beings.

Hyperbolic vitriol should not be encouraged, and I’m ashamed of The Panolian for even considering it for publication. Shame on Ray Mosby and shame on The Panolian.
/s/ Jennifer Tidwell