To The Reader’s Forum:

It was three years ago when alert Chautauquans knew black persons were being stopped and searched at the main gate at the very moment Chautauqua was touting diversity and inclusion. Those black persons turned out to be hired actors performing at the Bratton Theatre. Then the pandemic.

Now it is summer 2022 reaching into our hearts with a longing to see people again, to be with families, to enjoy Chautauqua. While Michael Hill sends out sugar-coated letters to all, Chautauqua opens its gates to violence!

Chautauqua’s President and Board of Trustees do not know the Indian meaning of “walk the talk.” As any Seneca Indian from the area knows: Chautauqua talks, talks, “talks the walk.”

Michael Hill and the Board had talks regarding more security measures at Chautauqua. They rejected the suggestions from employees. Instead of being awake to the violence in America (less than an hour away in Buffalo ten black shoppers were killed in a mass shooting at Tops) Michael Hill glows in the fact Chautauqua is different: “It couldn’t happen here” mentality of the 1950s. Michael Hill told a reporter for the NYT: “I’m not convinced that lining the place with a small army was going to change what happened.” He apparently has not learned anything from all the mass shootings in America.

But Chautauqua did! Salman Rushdie, one of the world’s most famous writers, sitting on the stage of the Amphitheatre (AMP) at age 75 is stabbed! Henry Reese, president of the City of Asylum from Pittsburgh, is injured. They are there to discuss the freedom writers have in America unlike other countries. The irony cannot go unnoticed.

No one from security sat in the empty choir section at 11 a.m. Friday August 12, 2022. No security was visible. But a young man dressed in black with a backpack roamed the grounds three days before the lecture. No Chautauquan reported him to the sheriff or police beforehand. No one was vigilant. But they were willing to be quoted after the tragedy. .

Chautauqua opened its gates to violence! Forever! Do we go to the amp for lectures? Do I see a young man dressed in black with a backpack when I walk to the Brick Walk Cafe for an ice cream cone?

Does he have a bomb? A knife or two or three? Does he have a gun? A rifle?

I hope Michael Hill has sleepless nights; we Chautauquans do. Chautauqua opened the gates to violence –stabbing Salman Rushdie while sitting in a chair on the stage of the Amphitheatre. Chautauqua: the gates of violence will never close again!

Mayville