When will gender, race injustices end?

In the early '30s of the last century, I began reading books which had been given to my mother. They were gifts upon her high school graduation in 1911.

One of them had a passage insulting Negroes in it. My sense of injustice stirred and I questioned my mother about it. She patiently explained, "I know that isn't right, Pat, but that is the way the world is." Nearly 100 years later, is that still the way the world is?

Many years later, during my employment in a small administrative department of a large firm, a young black man and I became friends. When an untactful remark cost me my job, the black man quit in defense of our friendship!

Do you think he and I made "a giant step for mankind?" Apparently, it was just a baby step on our part.

The injustices pertaining to race and gender still exist today. Perhaps if we, the little people of the world, were more courageous in our efforts to understand other ethnicities, there would be more peace in the world.

Patricia D. Herrmann

Arlington Heights