Inclusion in a Melting Pot
Gerard Leval’s opinion piece on the current causes of antisemitism (“Tossing Out the Melting Pot Gave Us Antisemitism,” Aug. 24) is thought-provoking and an important exercise in trying to understand this very real threat to our well-being as a community.
Noting the recent increase in “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs as a place to start is a perceptive contribution. Looking there without remembering the reason for those programs, however, and without emphasizing the third part of that word trio — inclusion — misses the point, especially as a way to understand the current rise in antisemitism.
Inclusion is another way to say “melting pot” — that our unity doesn’t mean that we all look, think or act the same; that an American is not (only) a white, Christian, athletic male. Those who don’t fit that ideal have been made invisible or devalued in many ways (think of the slurs that are still used in popular culture or the mocking of people with a disability).
Putting a spotlight on differences may have some risk in it, as Leval points out, in that some people see difference as a threat. But it also is an opportunity for all of us to be valued, not just tolerated if we remain in the shadows.
It will take courage and an opening of our better selves to truly revise what we have taken for granted — often unconsciously — as to what being an American means. But it is the best chance to leave antisemitism where it belongs — in the past, as a relic of America’s painful moments of growth on the way to living its core ideals.
Alan Tuttle | Wynnewood
Voting Clarification
As a judge of elections, I would like to point out a factual error in Paul L. Newman’s Aug. 24 letter titled “Not Losing Voting Rights.” He states that, because Pennsylvania’s primary election will be on the second day of Passover, he will vote absentee. He then says; “It is true that my ballot and other absentee ones won’t be counted unless needed in a close election, but that’s the price of living in America.”
Not true: All absentee and mail-in votes are counted regardless of how close the election is, and they become part of the official vote totals.
Even provisional ballots, which are cast only because there is some doubt as to the legitimacy of the vote, are counted if no reason is found not to count it. The most common reason for a provisional ballot is this scenario: A voter asks for a mail-in ballot, but decides instead to vote in person at the polls. If that voter failed to bring to the polls his or her mail-in ballot for the Judge of Election to void, then the voter must vote provisionally. That ballot too will be counted — but last, only after all the other votes have been registered and there is confidence that the voter was not trying to vote twice (once by mail, once in person).
The bottom line: In Pennsylvania, regardless of whether you vote in person or by mail-in, your vote will be counted. Two cautions concerning mail-in ballots: First, be sure to follow the directions regarding dating and signing the outside (or exterior) envelope. Failure to do so may well result in your vote not being counted. Second, don’t rely on postal service efficiency; deposit your ballot either at a drop box or a few days before election day so that it is received by the county no later than election day.
Marc Schneier, Dresher
