Marquis on Religious Right

Father Clif Marquis’ article, “Sorting Out Religion, Politics and History” (Commentary, Nov. 23), is an awe-inspiring, poignant, powerful statement (made the more forceful by Conrad’s cartoon alongside) reminding us of the historical imperative to protect our vital church-and-state separation of powers. Those who seek to do otherwise sow the seeds of historical regression, which would destroy hard-won personal liberties in the name of “saving our souls”!

SHELDON H. KARDENER

Santa Monica

As a fellow Catholic, it saddens me greatly that Marquis would stoop to such a mean-spirited attack on the religious right of this country. As victims of much Catholic-bashing over the centuries, it particularly grieves me that Marquis would turn around and aim the same sort of invective against our brothers and sisters in the religious right. Members of the religious right have every bit as much right as anyone else to have their ideas heard.

Marquis’ attacks are even sadder because they are not even true. If the religious right is so anti-Catholic and racist, perhaps Marquis could explain why the favorite presidential candidates of the religious right are Pat Buchanan (who is Catholic) and Alan Keyes (who is both Catholic and African American).

ANN GRIVICH

West Covina

Marquis is absolutely right that America has never had “one continuous civilization built around a set of commonly accepted legal and cultural principles,” as Newt Gingrich claims. But Marquis himself perpetuates a common myth that African American history is only one story when he writes, “African Americans . . . were slaves until 1863 and remained in socioeconomic slavery until 1965.”

This indeed describes a major part of African American history. But it ignores the great variety in the social and cultural history of African Americans. Free blacks lived in what is now Florida and South Carolina long before 1619. Between 1619 and 1863 significant communities of free blacks existed in Charleston, Richmond, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City and Boston, as well as in the small towns and farming communities of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois--and even in Mexican California, where Gov. Pio Pico was of African ancestry.

It is not only important to recognize the great variety of ethnic groups that has always been present in America, but in order to avoid stereotyping them, to understand that there have also been great differences within groups.

GERALD E. SHENK

Assistant Professor of History Marymount College, Palos Verdes