In response to Clarence Page’s column, “The invisible double standard” (Feb. 6), we offer the following “visible” standards as a safety valve for the future:
Politics, regardless of the special interests it represents, does not exist in a vacuum. The impact is national. Political leaders of any racial, ethnic or religious group who fight racism with racism and bigotry with bigotry will never win in the long run.
Racism and anti-Semitism cannot be rationalized. That road is ultimately a dead end. If we do not have clear concepts of right and wrong, our work together is impossible.
The closet racists and bigots are a far greater threat than the “entertainers” who feed off prejudice and sexism. Without the former, the latter have no power.
Slavery is this country’s greatest crime and anti-Semitism the world’s oldest hatred. The politics of victimization, however, become perilous when any group claims a monopoly on pain. As a nation of immigrants who came here fleeing, dreaming or in chains, all of our struggles and victories define the American experience.
Extremists ought not to be the benchmark by which we measure our progress. Racists and bigots must be exposed, but we cannot close doors in the process. Our challenge as we go forward is to keep doors open so that no group gets left behind.
If race relations is the amalgam of our experiences and perceptions, then expanding our points of reference should become everyone’s priority.
