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THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your efforts to revive my moribund political career. I am sorry that I was out of town when Erik Wemple called for my response to his article on Lawrence Guyot (“Lawrence of Columbia,” 2/16). Had I been in town when Wemple called, I, like Eleanor Holmes Norton, would have politely declined the opportunity to comment. I believe, as is obvious from the article, that Guyot’s words and actions speak for themselves and tell much more than I could ever possibly hope to convey.
I am sorry that Guyot, who so clearly prides himself on his past record as a civil rights activist, feels it necessary to resort to derogatory and demeaning racial stereotyping in framing his personal attacks on me. To state that the mere threat of a cutback in liquor sales contributed to the 1991 Mount Pleasant riots is a sweeping insult to the Latinos in our community. Mr. Guyot’s comments show him to be willing to use and, when necessary, to create “racial polarization” for his own purposes, without regard for its impact.
I am quite flattered, however, to find myself alongside Congresswoman Norton on Guyot’s apparently ever-growing enemies list. I am reminded of what Joseph Conrad wrote in the novel Lord Jim: You shall judge a person by his foes as well as by his friends.
Mount Pleasant