Letters to the Editor
-
Racism by chain mail
(Sigh) I am plagued with such e-mails, not at work, but from my non-senile scratch golfer 78 y.o. father. I've respectfully directed him to Snopes, and thankfully at least he's now using it to check so he won't look like a fool. But if Snopes is neutral on the subject or verifies the message's veracity, look out! Dad's sending it out with a vengence. His favorite is the "news" that the traitorous US Postal service has decided to sell stamps that honor muslim holidays - obviously another direct attack on Christianity in the U.S. It's old news - the stamps were issued pre-9/11 and were part of a series that honored a variety of religious holidays. And it can't be anti-Christian, since the USPS has always issued a variety of Christian stamps.
Ugh. When I explained the truth, and that even President Bush has urged the American people to resist the urge toward wholesale villification of muslims, his response was "well, how can you tell which ones are dangerous and which ones are not - someone I know did business with them and said they are all thieves and liars, so don't be gullible, daughter."
Ugh ugh ugh. This is a man who is intelligent enough, is a devout Christian (obvious from all the defense-of-Christianity chain mail he also sends me), but he grew up in the deep south and believes to this day that he isn't a racist but is instead a wiser head than all we gullible liberals. I love him, but he drives me CRAZY. At least he's not my boss and in a position to screw my career. It's not always easy to bite my tongue, but I know I'm not likely to change or enlighten him at this late stage of his life.