OPINION:
Capt. Jay Baker, a spokesman for the Atlanta-area Cherokee County sheriff’s office, appeared to brush off with flippant remarks last week’s murderous shooting spree that left dead multiple people, including six Asian women (“At least 7 killed in shooting attacks on 3 massage parlors,” Web, March 16). Capt. Baker told reporters that the young, White suspect who professed to love guns and God was having a “really bad day.”
A later apology by the sheriff’s office still belies a pervasive culture that marginalizes the impact of violence against minorities. I am a pediatrician, and I reassure the parents of my patients, irrespective of their appearance or beliefs, that I treat their children like I would my own. That was the oath I signed up for. That is the teaching of my Muslim faith, which is that, in the eyes of God, there is no superiority of one ethnic group over another.
To send a firm warning to all would-be terrorists to desist, law-enforcement officials should do as doctors are taught to do for their patients: Be the strong voice for the victims, as if they were your own kin.
SOHAIL HUSAIN
Mountain View, Calif.
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