Charlottesville Marcher Denounced By Entire Family In Hometown Newspaper Op-Ed
A man makes a slashing motion across his throat toward counter-protesters as he marches with other white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the ‘alt-right’ during the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Image by Getty Images
By Aiden Pink August 14, 2017
The father of one of the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va. last week has written a letter to his hometown newspaper denouncing his son and saying he was no longer welcome home until he renounced his bigotry.
Pearce Tefft of Fargo, N.D. wrote to the local newspaper The Forum after his son, Peter, was interviewed by national media in Charlottesville. “I, along with all of his siblings and his entire family, wish to loudly repudiate my son’s vile, hateful and racist rhetoric and actions,” Pearce Tefft wrote. “We do not know specifically where he learned these beliefs. He did not learn them at home.”
The elder Tefft wrote that he had “taught all of my children that all men and women are created equal. That we must love each other all the same. Evidently Peter has chosen to unlearn these lessons, much to my and his family’s heartbreak and distress.”
Peter Tefft is no longer welcome at family gatherings until he “renounce[s] his hateful beliefs,” the letter continued.
Read the whole letter, including the heartbreaking conclusion, by clicking here.
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
