Lamppost Designs Predate Nazis and Should Remain

* The Anti-Defamation League has spent the past 82 years fighting real issues of anti-Semitism and bigotry. Unfortunately, there are still far too many examples of prejudice in the world for us to resort to needlessly manufacturing problems where none exists.

The Glendale lampposts (“Swastika Designs Anger JDL Chief,” July 12) are such an example. The pattern of vertical and horizontal lines on the base of the lampposts are a decorative design dating from the 1920s and are not the swastika symbols of Nazi Germany.

Rather than needlessly spending taxpayer money to tear down the existing fixtures, why not invest in a prejudice-reduction program for the local school district to teach children about how to combat existing issues of intolerance? I, for one, think it would be money much better spent.

RONI BLAU

Woodland Hills

Blau is director of the San Fernando Valley Anti-Defamation League. * It is ridiculous for Irv Rubin to demand to have all the designs removed from over 500 street lights because he is insulted by something that “resembles” the Nazi swastika! Sure, the swastika is a symbol of evil, but these light posts are not swastikas! Calling them swastikas is like calling a dog a cat and a cat a dog, just because they both happen to be house pets.

Also, by calling it an insult to all Americans to have these symbols out there, you, Mr. Rubin, have insulted the thousands of Asian Americans and our Native Americans (who were here thousands of years before the first Jew ever set foot on this land) who have regarded these as symbols of good fortune for eons. What you are trying to do is place your faith above all other faiths, and that is wrong!

JOHN WHITE

EL Segundo

* I must take offense with Mr. Irv Rubin about the lampposts in Glendale, dating back to 1920.

The decoration may resemble an inverse swastika, but it certainly has no Nazi connotation, since there were no Nazis at that time. It was later adopted by the Nazis in 1935.

If Mr. Rubin desires for the decorations to be removed, I don’t care, but I suggest he pay for the removal. Personally, I believe something that has been around for 75 years and fulfills a purpose should stay, even with the presence of Mr. Rubin’s paranoia.

RONALD E. HOHN

Los Angeles