To the editor: I have thought reflexively about the anti-Semitic backlash that would ensue if Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro were chosen as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, since I am Jewish. But reading about it in The Times made me feel even more painful. (“Chatter about Josh Shapiro as Harris' running mate viers into antisemitism,” Opinion, July 30)
Jews have been at the forefront of defending Palestinian rights and the rights of all oppressed and needy peoples, and yet the far left despises us. The anti-Semitism of the far right has been seen by all. This anti-Semitism of both the left and the right tells me that the problem is extremism.
The time has come for the vast majority of us to denounce, marginalize and expel extremists. As philosopher Eric Hoffer taught us decades ago, extremists either do not change or go from one extreme to the other, but almost universally do not moderate.
We are better than this. It is time to throw the bigots into the dustbin of history. I don't need Shapiro as VP, but I do need blind hatred to be crushed.
Paul Malykont, Los Osos, California.
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To the editor: I deeply appreciate columnist LZ Granderson's impartiality in addressing anti-Semitism and not allowing it to influence politics.
But as a Jew, I would prefer not to have a Jew as Harris' running mate if there is a chance that this could contribute to a Democratic defeat in the presidential race. It is a sacrifice of ideals that must be made to defeat Trump and prevent further losses of civil rights.
And who would be to blame for these losses if having a Jew on the electoral list contributed to them? The Jews, of course.
Nancy Flesch Brundige, Los Angeles
