Salman Rushdie Controversy

The Salman Rushdie controversy raises interesting questions regarding censorship. I’m proud the Western World rushed to his defense; particularly, Britain--he lives there. As for American supporters, count me in, but it’s a strange side to be on in a country where “The Diary of Anne Frank” is still censored in some places; where I was recently requested to remove the word “Yid” from an essay by the editor of a New York literary magazine because it might cause “a religious war”; where “seven little words” are bleeped from movies even on late-night television; where radio stations are still pursued by the FCC for obscenities after dark; where racism is so prevalent articles on mixed marriages still make newspaper headlines.

For a hot minute the Rushdie controversy made me think this was the land of the free and the home of the brave. Pinch me.

WANDA COLEMAN

Los Angeles