"What would it take to make us admit we were wrong about Islam?"

It's a question Carol Swain asked in 2015 in an anti-Muslim column she wrote in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

The answer to her own question is apparently a mayoral election.

Swain, a retired Vanderbilt professor, visited the Islamic Center of Tennessee over the weekend in a move to repair relations nearly four years after her Tennessean op-ed — largely viewed as hate speech for its critique of Islam — was published.

The staunch conservative is challenging Mayor David Briley in the Aug. 1 election, along with state Rep. John Ray Clemmons and At-large Metro Councilman John Cooper.

"I expressed regret that it seemed to blame all Muslims," Swain posted on social media on Monday, along with a photo of her wearing a head covering. "As mayor, I intend to represent all Nashvillians and that starts with having an open and honest conversation in hopes of obtaining a deeper understanding."

Swain said she visited for several hours and was "welcomed and treated with courtesy and respect." Her visit came during the holy month of Ramadan. The 30 days of prayer and fasting ends next week.

"At the end of the day we're all hard-working citizens of Nashville who want to feel safe, live comfortably, not sit in traffic all day and have our elected officials represent us properly," she wrote.

The Islamic Center of Tennessee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Visit wasn't an 'apology'

Swain said her 2015 piece was written in a “heat of passion,” and was not intended to create a “firestorm.” Her words, she said, were twisted.

“I didn't go there to give an apology,” Swain said in an interview with the Tennessean. “I needed to clarify what I meant."

“I thought it was important to correct the impression I made that I hated Muslims,” she said.

In her op-ed, Swain wrote that the Paris attacks show that critics of Islam are correct and criticized not just those who murdered in Paris, but the faith as a whole.

"More and more members of the (politically correct) crowd now acknowledge that Islam has absolutely nothing in common with Christianity, nor is it a worthy part of the brotherhood of man I long felt was characteristic of the Abrahamic religions," she wrote.

"A younger, more naive version of myself once believed in a world where the people of the Book could and would get along because they all claimed Abraham as their father. No more!"

Swain urged that "(c)ivic education and other indicators of assimilation should be a prerequisite for remaining and advancing in this nation," and that burqas are dangerous as they allow individuals to conceal their identities.

Swain on Tuesday said she has not changed her perspective and that she is not backing down in her warning.

"I still believe that it's important to assimilate and for us to be one America," she said. "If people comes from other countries, they must respect our constitution ... respect laws and freedom of speech."

She said she's "always wanted to address" the issue but waited for an invitation to the mosque. She also was told that other mayoral candidates have gone for a visit.

"They can reject me and chose to hate me but I don't want to be the person that didn't reach out," she said. "I told them ... I always wanted to have that conversation."

Swain's 'regret' gets mixed response

But Swain's post has received mixed feedback from supporters and critics alike.

Some responded by calling her visit and apparent change of perspective as pandering in an attempt to gain votes. Others applauded her for her expressed "regret," while some said she "blew her base" by going "weak."

Swain said those who don't support her visit to the mosque, are not "truly her supporters."

"The people who are complaining the loudest are not representative of my supporters," she said. "I want to move on from this. If people have a problem with it, it's their problem."

In an interview with the Tennessean in April after Briley's State of Metro address, Swain characterized the "Muslim inclusion," at the annual event as "almost a rejection" of Christians.

"When you talk about diversity and inclusion and moving ahead, you have to have compassion for white people," Swain said, referencing Briley's touting of the Equal Business Opportunity program that ensures minority- and women-owned businesses have an equal opportunity to compete for Metro contracts.

"I think if I were a 50-year-old white person that was conservative ... I would wonder 'Am I included in the mayor's vision?'"

Yihyun Jeong covers politics in Nashville for USA TODAY NETWORK - TENNESSEE. Reach her at yjeong@tennessean.com and follow her on Twitter @yihyun_jeong.