Hi all — I am surprised to have to write this note, but I need your collective insight and help. Usually I ignore what is said about me online unless there is some practical reason to follow it, but a cousin warned me that the Wikipedia entry about me had changed dramatically, so I took a look. I have no idea what is happening in terms of the process by which this is done — I can only speculate, knowing that there are now legions of hired online commentators sent out to devalue the discourse that questions some political trends in this country — but my Wikipedia entry has indeed been dive-bombed since a year or so ago! A year or 18 months ago (I almost never check) it was quite balanced and neutral; since them someone (or multiple posters) have assiduously sought out the most negative things anyone ever said about my work in print in the most systematic ways and in many a not-obvious venue and have seeded the post with them; they have focused on quotes that undermine my message or my validity as a messenger and marginalize my voice. They have also mis-characterized my positions using right-wing (not partisan but corporatocracy right wing) talking point that are not true but that cast me as a fringe figure — claiming that I admire the restrictive dress of women in Muslim countries which is a terrible distortion of what I said — weirdly calling me ‘Jewish-American’ throughout — and cutting all of the many positive or even just respectful or even simply neutral quotes from reviews or characterizations of my work.

I am appealing to you all for help. I would never ask you to alter a Wikipedia entry in a way that does not reflect your views; but if you go to this site and think it is distorted, would you kindly, as citizen journalists with a responsibility for accuracy, take whatever action accords with your own sense of a neutral or balanced presentation of my work and reputation, or that at least reflects a more diverse pool of entries than the hostile minions that seems to have been unleashed to alter the entry? A full bio is on the Royce-Carlton site, and Amazon has reviews, positive and negative, of my work.

I wouldn’t ordinarily care, but a Wikipedia entry affects many ways I can get the word out in real life – from lecture opportunities to publication requests — and I also feel as a matter of principle Wikipedia should not be used for partisan purposes to smear opposition figures, and should be alert to that possibility. It is frustrating to see a site so systematically altered to attack my reputation.

THANK YOU!!!! I am grateful….

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