The following is a letter to the editor that I wrote, which appeared in The New York Times, about the troubling role that racism and religious intolerance plays in the horrific mass shootings that are happening far too often in our country:
May 16, 2022
To the Editor:
Re “Grief and Rage Rock Buffalo After Racism Fuels Massacre” (front page, May 16):
After yet another horrific mass shooting, there will be the usual calls for common-sense gun control measures, most of which will regrettably fall on deaf ears because of the partisan politics that surround the Second Amendment. However, there is a deeper, darker and more disturbing issue that warrants just as much attention as the prospect of stronger gun regulations.
Racism and religious intolerance are fueling a wave of deadly violence in America that foreshadows more troubling times ahead. Black people are being attacked solely because they are Black, Jews are being targeted just because they are Jewish, and Asian Americans and Muslim Americans are being assaulted simply because of their race and religion. This systematic xenophobia and barefaced bigotry are patently un-American and antithetical to the democratic ideals upon which this nation was built, and they pose one of the biggest threats to our republic.
As a society and as a nation, we need to place as much of an emphasis on curbing the rabid racism that drives people to target and terrorize people based on their race or ethnicity as we do on ending the mass shootings that ensue.
N. Aaron Troodler
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.
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