'Old Enough to Remember'

Editor:

I’m just old enough to remember Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare of the 1950s. Sen. McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) led a government-wide hunt for communists, socialists and their “fellow travelers,” and he claimed to find “commies” everywhere he looked, from colleges to the armed forces (“Sunshine, If We Can Keep It,” March 20). Many people believed him and the result was a frenzy of persecution and prosecution.

Well, it’s happening again, only this time instead of “communism” the evil word is “antisemitism.” And it isn’t just the federal government that wants to use the word to justify stifling dissent: Right here in Humboldt County, there are people who see antisemites everywhere they look and seem willing to stir up anger and hatred against those of us who don’t see the world the way they do.

The threat they and the government represent to freedom of speech is real. Already, we’ve seen arrests, deportations, firings, “naming of names” and financial blackmail. Worse will come if we allow ourselves to be deceived, like too many did in the 1950s.

Richard Sanborn, Bayside