EDITORIAL LETTERS
The Purpose of the Million Man March Is Now Clear
Prior to reading the front-page article ''Motives of the Million Man Marchers,'' Oct. 16, I had stereotyped the event as a gathering of black separatists in support of Louis Farrakhan.
Growing up in rural Idaho and attending college in Idaho, one tends to be blinded to the problems that trouble black America. The 1990 census reports somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 blacks living in Idaho, with not one single case of unemployment reported in persons over the age of 25. Therefore, one gets the misconception that all is well.
The way to end the problems facing blacks (and other minority groups) in America is to educate [white] America about those problems in a calm, rational way that will make them want to help - not to make them feel guilty or culpable for the actions of their ancestors several hundred years earlier. Although I view Mr. Farrakhan as an anti-white, anti-Semitic bigot, calling whites ''the enemy'' and Jewish businessmen ''bloodsuckers,'' I support the march and its resounding messages of peace, responsibility, and promise for a better tomorrow.
J.D. Cochran Rexburg, Idaho
Solving the nuclear waste problem
The Monitor got it right in the editorial ''Urgent: Nuclear Waste,'' Oct. 24. Only those intent on not finding a solution to the spent fuel problem could possibly oppose establishment of an interim storage facility.
The nuclear-plant sites that are storing fuel were never designed to handle these assemblies for long periods of time. And besides, electric utility customers have already paid for storage and disposal through a fee on nuclear-generated electricity. It is time for the federal government to live up to its part of the bargain. The current legislation making its way through the House and Senate sets a reasonable timetable and plan for interim storage. We need to support these bills and finally do something positive about spent nuclear fuel.
William H. Miller Columbia, Mo.
Professor and Chair, College of Engineering
University of Missouri-Columbia
Every wage-earner is a homemaker
Regarding the article ''Unpaid Family Care - Time to Treat It as Economic Reality,'' Oct. 26: Home management and child care will never be respected until society insists that all jobs be designed with the view that every wage-earner is a homemaker.
Yes, that idea is radical and it may never be completely realized. However, as the world very slowly realizes that women's rights are human rights, feminists have a great opportunity to ''go for it.'' Indeed, to avoid the challenge of insisting that every wage-earner is a homemaker/nurturer is one of the greatest injustices to all workers, both paid and unpaid.
Joanne Callahan Garland, Texas