Mr. Paul Krugman
New YorkDear Mr. Krugman:
Every once and a while it is good to know what other folks are saying about us, even if it is wrong. Especially if it is wrong.
And out there is the notion that Southerners in general, Alabamians in particular, are not really up to the demands of the modern, industrialized economy.
Recently this came out in your column in The New York Times, which was reprinted in The Star on Wednesday. I was glad that The Star chose to publish the piece because it not only had a lot to say about the competition between the United States and Canada but also because publishing it gives me the opportunity to respond to misinformation and misconceptions that need to be addressed.
In discussing why Toyota decided to locate a new plant in Ontario, you went out of your way to engage in a little Dixie bashing by observing that “Japanese auto companies opening plants in the Southern U.S. have been unfavorably surprised by the work force’s poor level of training.” You went on to single out Alabama where, you reported, instructors “had to use ‘pictorials’ to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech equipment.”
Now I understand it is difficult to cover all the bases, but it would have been nice if you had checked things more carefully, for if you had you would have found that over a week before you published your piece the source you cited, the president of the Toronto-based Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, denied saying that Alabama workers were “illiterate” and noted that “the use of diagrams and illustrations is common” in industry training. Nor, apparently, did you ask yourself how it could be that such a sub-standard workforce as we supposedly have in Alabama could win the DaimlerChrysler Top Quality Award for 2004 for the best performance by a Mercedes plant, worldwide.
Now I know that Alabama has its problems. And if you would like to engage in a discussion of what the state is and is not doing to prepare its citizens for a 21st century industrial economy, I’d be happy to oblige. We’d probably agree on a lot. Unfortunately, what you have done is perpetuate the very stereotypes that people of your inclination and influence should be working to overcome. Down here we are doing what we can to set the record right but face it, more people read the The New York Times than read The Anniston Star.
Ironically, on the very day your column appeared in The Times, Gov. Bob Riley announced that British-owned GKN Aerospace will expand its factory in Tallassee. The reason for this $20 million investment? The “work ethic” of Alabamians.
You might want to put that in the file for future reference.
All the best,
Hardy Jackson
