‘Doonesbury’

I was surprised by the racism of Garry Trudeau’s “Doonesbury” comic strip of April 28. In that strip, an Arab is told by a bartender that in America, Americans share their thoughts with their bartenders; when the Arab was then asked by the bartender what he was thinking about, the Arab casually responded, “I have to assassinate somebody.” This comic strip clearly stereotypes Arabs as murderers by implying that it is common for the average Arab to casually think about killing.

Although many governments in the Mideast are unstable, so too are many in South America, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Far East. Only the most racist would imply that the average person living in those countries are assassins.

Because The Times does not normally promote bigoted stereotyping, I doubt very much that you would have published Trudeau’s strip if it showed a black man thinking about a drug deal or a Latino thinking about a drive-by killing.

ZANE ALSABERY, Executive Vice President, Islamic Information Service, Los Angeles