Pittsburgh's former mayor, Tom Murphy, chose to judge the people of North Carolina for our lack of progress in turning the Dorothea Dix Hospital campus into a park. It is a shame that his words captured a headline in The N&O ("Visitor on Dix Park delay: 'Shame on you'," Jan. 21 news article).
Murphy may not know that the hospital is not completely closed and that there are patients in the forensic unit. He may not know that facilities on campus are being used to provide treatment and leadership for those with mental illness. He may not know that North Carolina is still in a state of chaos that pervades the mental health system. A balanced report may have indicated that many former patients and advocates recognize that the hospital land represents much more than a potential park for the greedy, hip 1 percent who see the land as an opportunity to make money.
Others believe the land should be a campus consistent with the legacy of a 19th century female leader who spent her life fighting for forgotten victims of a stigmatizing illness. All North Carolina citizens should have a voice in this decision. Not just a few, and especially not an outsider from Pittsburgh.
