‘Safe spaces’ for rich children

Re “The quest for safe spaces,” Opinion, Dec. 21

In his comments about society’s quest to find “safe places,” Mark Edmundson fails to recognize one of the most important reasons our society is divided — private schools.

It is one thing to want to spend time with friends and family whose private lives are connected culturally. It is quite another to be completely separated from other religions, races and cultures from the time we are very young.

I learned this lesson as a young man growing up in an Orthodox Jewish home in Detroit and living across the street from a high school that was almost completely Jewish. I chose to go to a leading technical high school miles from my home.

Our student body of 3,000 people was a complete mixture of creeds and cultures, and being a part of it was the best experience of my life. It led to lifelong friendships and allowed me to interact with the people of the world and learn about their religions and cultures.

We do not need “safe places” — we need an open society where we get to know our neighbors, not fear them. Bernard Otis West Hills

Edmunson misses the point.

Ethnic conclaves being defined as safe spaces, and the general lack of racial and ethnic mixing on college campuses, are the ironic legacy of multiculturalism and identity politics — preaching tolerance, but teaching tribalism. Charles Berezin Los Angeles