Mark Hatfield: “for more than a year now, the world has watched the horror of ethnic cleansing continue daily in war-torn Bosnia.…”

“for more than a year now, the world has watched the horror of ethnic cleansing continue daily in war-torn Bosnia. Despite the tragedy of these events, many in the United States have learned little about the consequences of racial and ethnic hatred. Indeed, we have seen hate crimes and bigotry persist in this country almost undaunted. The remarks of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, a minister of Louis Farrakhan, at Howard University last month triggered an extended debate among columnists, editorial boards, and community leaders about free speech and racism. While it is easy to watch this battle be fought in the abstract on the printed page, we must also accept responsibility for fighting it in concrete terms. Spokespeople can fight this battle for us, but generals alone do not win wars. None of us is a passive spectator in the war on racism and bigotry, we are all active participants. To borrow a military term, this is not a limited conflict, it is an expansive one which involves every person opposed to bigotry. Martin Niemoller once wrote: First the Nazis came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. And when they came for the Catholics, I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me. And by that time there was no one left to speak up for anyone.…”