Editor,
I am sorry for the need to respond to Mr. Kent Lauder’s letter to the editor “Ethnic cleansing” published in the Feb. 14 edition of the Daily Journal. The point I wish to make is this: it is absolutely irresponsible and inflammatory to compare a more rigorous enforcement of immigration laws already in place with “ethnic cleansing.”
Ethnic cleansing is a term which denotes wholesale slaughter and removal of ethnic or religious minorities, wholesale confiscation of their properties, their confinement to refugee camps or prison camps and their systematic extermination through mass execution and torture. This very thing has been practiced all through human history, more recently in Nazi Germany, Bosnia ... We could go on and on. But to suggest that the U.S. government is carrying out ethnic cleansing against people who are here illegally is simply to fan the flames of race hatred in this country. What about all the people of the same ethnic group who have found a legal way to stay here? These include my friends and relatives, by the way. While I agree that some accommodation should be made for those who have grown up here without the benefit of legal status (whether from parental neglect or another cause), it is not only inappropriate but harmful to compare a sovereign nation’s attempt to control, however belatedly, its borders with mass extermination of ethnic or religious groups. I can only surmise that Mr. Lauder is projecting frustrations from other ares of his life onto the issue at hand.
Clayton Rich
South San Francisco
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(2) comments
The left is continuing to raise the bar in name calling. It shines the light on how weak their actual policies are. They have use the term "racist" so many times that it has lost its impact and sting. They need to now use terms like Ethnic Cleansing to bring sensationalism to their argument and in doing so show their ignorance. Ethnic Cleansing has happened in our world and its consequences have been devastating. Once the term Ethnic Cleansing is diminished because of overuse , I believe the next term de jour will be Holocaust. Any bets?
The "left", the "right" (place dismissing generalization here). Dismissal of an entire group based on their opposition to your own beliefs does not make them go away. People make outrageous comments and the lack of reasonable thought should be called out, as above. Free speech goes both ways and we owe it to our communities to speak out in a way that not only brings about change but also understanding and healing. Generalizations, hyperbole, and lack of compassion have lead to great divide that separates us as one people. Our diversity is still our greatest strength. We need to accept what the U S of A is, an amalgam of many different minds.
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