Sometimes a comment on my wall will include a derogatory comment about Jews, those with learning disabilities, religion, etc. When I’ve objected to the comment (right before I delete it), it’s happened that the person will say “But I’m from a persecuted group myself so there should be some forbearance.”

My beloved younger brother Paul was stigmatized as “retarded” in early childhood in an era when enlightenment had not yet dawned. He was taunted as a “retard,” humiliated, bullied, socially isolated & considered inferior. To cope, he became alcoholic & at the age of 40 took his own life.

He lived with me off & on, including a period when he was recuperating from a broken leg. We would go for check-ups to an affordable clinic near my house where the waiting room was always crowded, mostly with Latino immigrants.

It annoyed me that no one would offer him a seat when he was on crutches but never said anything to him. One day, as we drove home he said: “Mary, all the people in the waiting room except me are–what do you call them?–Hispanics or Latinos. But I don’t like to call them names because they’re just human beings like us.”

That’s my answer to that forbearance thing.