Dear Senators Wyden and Merkley:

I sincerely hope you’re not among those who mischaracterize Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s comments in Thursday’s interview as racist. While they certainly were ignorant and inflammatory, no one was being demonized solely on the basis of his or her race or ethnicity.

Sure, like you I can’t help but wonder which Newspeak Dictionary the senator read that taught him violent insurrectionists carrying out paramilitary operations aimed at kidnapping and killing lawfully elected officials is characteristic of citizens who respect law and order, but his remarks raise a valid point that violent lawlessness has been engaged in by liberals in the name of social justice — if I were a white conservative lawmaker I, too, would have felt more fear if my Capitol Building had been breached by BLM and Antifa instead of by Oathkeepers and Proud Boys. Fear of the Other is hard-wired into human nature, and that Other need not be someone who looks visibly different, that Other can and usually is someone who lives differently culturally and believes differently politically.

I understand invoking the label “racism/racist” is doubtless an effective base-consolidating tool, but what will result from this tactic in the long run? I can tell you personally that I’m periodically accused of being a white supremacist by liberals who label whites racist simply because they dislike dissenting opinions and disagree with civil discourse — there are those who sincerely seek racial equality and healing, but there are those who embrace victimhood in order to justify a bloody-minded vendetta. Words are powerful: they shape our reality and frame our thinking. I implore you to weigh yours carefully.