Rachel Gordon: Newspapers have an important responsibility

I am appalled that the Recorder was willing to print the dehumanizing language in the Nov. 2 letter to the editor “True colors.” Indeed, the democratic process — warped though it is by the Electoral College and the dismantling of the Voting Rights Act, among many other anti-democratic maneuvers — did not go the way I and many others were hoping for last week.

And yet, it’s not the Democrats on my street who put up a shiny new “F YOUR FEELINGS” flag on Wednesday morning, so please spare me the finger-pointing about childishness and histrionics.

I can take the immature name-calling. Goodness knows it’s the least of what we’re in for. But it crossed a line — and an important one. Harris voters are not a separate race, much less a “pernicious” one that “crawls upon” the Earth. No human being should ever be referred to as “vermin.” Ever. And no self-respecting newspaper should ever put such a phrase into print. By doing so, you reinforce a kind of thinking that often leads directly to horrific violence, as we’ve seen over and over in history and in the present day. If we’re quoting Jonathan Swift, I prefer this one: “Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.”

It’s clear that the incoming administration has no such intention — for most of its own voters, much less the rest of us. I fervently hope that this newspaper will use its power more wisely.

Rachel Gordon

Greenfield