It’s difficult to find adequate words to express the sadness and sorrow I felt on hearing the news of yesterday’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The sadness and sorrow only deepened when I saw Stephen Johns’s picture flashed on the TV screen and learned that he had died from being shot by an anti-Semitic racist. I thought of the many times that he greeted me during my years at the Museum with a smile and twinkling eyes. I learned from a colleague at the Museum that he left behind an infant child. Even after nine years working at the Holocaust Museum and almost a year and a half working here at Save Darfur, I still can’t fathom the hatred and anger that motivated the killer. My heart goes out to Stephen’s family. It’s a touching tribute that the Museum closed today to mourn Stephen’s death and to honor his sacrifice. As important a tribute will be for the Museum to reopen tomorrow and continue its vital mission of alerting people to the perils of hatred and prejudice, whether those perils manifest themselves on the other side of the world in a place like Darfur or, heartbreakingly, within the Museum’s own walls.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
