Hollings’ Joke

I think that Sen. Ernest F. Hollings’ (D-S.C.) joke about the A-bombs is irresponsible (March 4). Just as one should not make racist jokes or jokes about the Holocaust, one should not make offensive jokes about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For an elected official to make such a joke promoting more anti-Japanese sentiment and to say afterward that he is “glad” he has said it, I find particularly repulsive.

I am a Japanese living in Los Angeles and I also find the remarks by some Japanese politicians about the American workers offensive and incorrect. However, this gives no excuse for making such a joke and certainly has nothing to do with the 200,000 people killed by the A-bombs.

KENICHIRO AOKI, Los Angeles