I am writing today to comment on an issue raised in the June 27 letter, "Don't forget the murder of Paul Antonich." The writer suggested we turn our attention from the Trina Langenbrunner slaying and think about the Paul Antonich murder so we don't forget about it.
This was a great example of why we continue to struggle with racism in our society. If people would have the guts to stand up for the beliefs they hold in their hearts we may be able to make more progress in this area. Instead we have people hiding the racism and using other ways to express it. More often than not, they find inappropriate opportunities. Sometimes they try to combine issues and situations that have nothing to do with one another.
Why would the letter writer have his memories of the Paul Antonich murder triggered by the Trina Langenbrunner slaying? I will tell you exactly why he seemed to feel the need to combine these two murders. He wanted others to stop thinking about Langenbrunner, a Native American, and to start thinking about Antonich, a Caucasian.
People who are hiding are unable to recognize when they use other avenues to express their racism. They feel a need to express something that is raging inside them. People hiding racism would rather have others call them on the racism. They are unable to admit what it is for which they stand.
I want to remove the issues of racism and the murders of our fellow human beings from one another. Racism is a problem, and people need to come together on the issue. The murders of Antonich and Langenbrunner are totally different issues and deserve to be thought of as their own separate circumstances. For them to be used in any other way is absolutely shameful.
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Bryan Dale Burns
Duluth
