To the Editor:

When he flew to Saudi Arabia for his first Islamic Hajj pilgrimage, Black American Civil Rights Leader Malcolm X had an epiphany that challenged the hatred of whites promulgated by autocratic, racist leaders of his adopted Nation of Islam. On that plane he conversed with Muslims of good will who were white and brown, European and Middle Eastern, Asian and African.

Deeply touched by their shared humanity, Malcolm X dared to speak the truth to hateful power when he called out Nation of Islam Leader Elijah Mohammed for his greedy corruption, adulterous behavior, and vicious intolerance. Malcolm’s reward for thinking freely was to be murdered in front of his wife and children by radical fellow Muslims.

I had a valuable epiphany when I was robbed at knifepoint by three black teenagers in Washington, DC. Moments later, my eyes met those of a young Black woman. In her eyes, I saw compassion, empathy, and concern, which redeemed the whole ugly incident. It is people of good will like her, peaceful progressives and those in the political center, who will complete the work of fulfilling the righteous and just American dream envisioned by Dr Martin Luther King.

I look with a wary eye upon radicals of both the Right and Left — ranging from the at-times dangerous, delusional QAnon conspirators to leftist extremists who believe America needs radical and violent revolution. Cathy Reiss is justified in expressing concern about the “well-trained Marxists” who helped found the Black Lives Matter movement — a righteous movement that is too often policed and represented by hateful, rigid demagogues. They shamefully turn their eyes away from the holocaust of black-on-black gang violence and deny the truth that this nation has made significant progress towards greater racial parity — through affirmative action, diversity initiatives, antipoverty programs such as Head Start and the compassionate actions of people of good will. This progress is evidenced by the millions of Blacks who have become accomplished members of the American middle and productive classes — and yes, by Barack Obama’s service for eight years as leader of the free world.

Of course, much more needs to be done, but it will not be done by rigid ideologues who publicly shame and pillory those who dare to disagree with them.

I stand with the novelist Salman Rushdie, the Russian dissident musicians Pussy Riot, and other free-thinking artists of good will who have denounced the hateful, politically correct thought control of the Left. There are nearly two billion people worldwide whose necks are under the knee of murderous Marxist dictators and their brutal thought police. You can see the proof in the frequent murder of Russian dissidents, the crushing of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement, the brutal repression and starvation of North Korea’s citizens, and the forced incarceration in “Marxist re-education camps” of the Uighur Muslims in China’s western provinces.

People of good will, common sense, and shared humanity arise!

Dale N. Walter

133B Taunton Hill Road, Newtown August 11, 2020