There, New York Times- I've Fixed Your Article For You

Dear New York Times,

Here is an accurate accounting of what went down between me and Lazarus Lake in 2020.

​I added more detail to the first sentence that I edited in order to give it more context. Your writer’s original description-“Discussions around the race”, is vague and obscures what I shared in my race recap- homophobia and racism that I experienced while running the race (along with audiobook recommendations).

The second edit that I made is to counter a lie that Cantrell and his followers have repeated ad nauseam. The pushback that Cantrell received was not over “perceived censorship”. They would not have allowed me to graduate from law school, and I would have failed the New York Bar Exam if I didn’t recognize that free speech is about government censorship. Nobody on my team- the most vocal of Cantrell’s critics, has ever denied that Cantrell could make whatever rules he wanted for his own space. You would have known this had you bothered reaching out to me, or doing a close reading of the statements I’ve made to journalists and podcasters.

The pushback Cantrell received from me, my teammates, BIPOC runners, and allies was over his acquiescing to the white supremacists in his community instead of rebuking them. That Cantrell and his supporters continue to frame this as a controversy over his freedoms means that he’s either lying to mask his failure to confront bigotry, or believing that he is above reproach, he refuses to listen to criticism that makes him uncomfortable.

Finally, I added a description of the subsequent decision that Cantrell made. This decision is what caught the attention of journalists and podcasters that cover running. To omit this is to promote a version of events that serves Cantrell.

While Cantrell is free to believe and say whatever he wants, the New York Times and other media outlets should not publish propaganda under the guise of journalism. This is what you’re doing when you publish single source stories, and you rely on one white man’s perspective when reporting on racism.

Do better.
Ben Chan