To the editor: The column of the guest collaborator Ben Ratskoff spoke to me for numerous reasons (“When 'never again' became a controversial statement?” September 10). Although I am not Jewish, my heart is full of compassion for anyone who has experienced a trauma of any kind, especially with regard to generational trauma. As a black man in the United States, the lessons of history have never been lost and I aspire to remind the people of my community that we should never return.
To ensure that we must highlight the injustice and suffering of others, regardless of who they are. In the words of Reverendo Martin Luther King Jr., “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This column puts a lot of perspective for me. Ratskoff mentions appointments that were published by the Holocaust Museum, including “Jews should not let the trauma of our past silence be our conscience” and “being Jewish is to remember and act.” Those words are extremely shocking for me and I am sure that others.
I want to personally thank Rateskoff for being a member about the story that is often deliberately forgotten. There are also those who want to rewrite and reinvent the horrors of our past; That is why this column encourages me. It is a call to action, for the Jewish community first and then the Gentiles who believe in an inclusive and equitable world for each man, woman and child.
Brandon Baker, West Covina
