Archive: Opinions

EditorialDespite the inevitable nastiness that some people can't resist, the presidential election was about issues and personalities, not about race.  That was one of the most remarkable aspects of the election, and a beacon of hope that race will someday be irrelevant.

That was in stark contrast to the remembrance of Kristallnacht last weekend, the pogrom that was the beginning of the end for millions of victims who were annihilated because of their race or something about them that was 'different.'

Thomas Jefferson wrote "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" in the Declaration of Independence.  But even in this country all people were not treated equally, and still are not.  Yet there hasn't been mass murder here, perhaps because of the tone those words set from the beginnings of our nation.

That wasn't the case 70 years ago as waves of hatred of tsunami proportions poured out of Germany.  Jews and others were stripped of their belongings, their dignity, and their lives in massive proportions.  So-called normal people just stood by while it happened.  It could be rationalized because Jews were 'different.'

It is hard to imagine such a thing happening here.  But I believe it was hard for Germans to imagine it happening there, even while it did happen.  Evil brought on by ignorance, jealousy, and hate is insidious.

I worked for a large corporation that forced a culture of respect onto all of us.  At first I thought that training sessions and periodic admonitions from superiors in the organization were just political correctness, but I soon began to see the benefit of everybody agreeing to be respectful.  It didn't mean we had to not be ourselves -- it was a simple acknowledgement that everyone had something to contribute, and it promoted a culture of openness and productivity.

The key is in making it part of the culture, as Jefferson began to do when he wrote those words in 1776.  With all of our warts this country has done pretty well, and 232 years later the election was a milestone in the long road the country has traveled toward that ideal. 

That declaration was a great road map.  It will be a long time yet before we are truly 'color blind.'  But that doesn't mean that these milestones along the road aren't significant.  They are, because they remind us where we have been, and where we want to end up. 

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