Earlier today, someone sent me a link to a new blog that apparently has been designed to publish nasty information about royal writers, including me.
Nearly 37 years ago, in April 1984 I wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Daily News apparently about an article on Hispanics. I don't remember writing this because it was 37 years ago. However, I will make no excuses for not remembering it. It was wrong and I admit it.
I regret my comments including the statement "that Hispanics do not want to join the mainstream of American life." It was wrong and I admit it, wholeheartedly. The person I was 37 years ago is not who I am now.
My views have changed considerably. How and why is easy to explain. Like many Americans, I grew up in a bubble. I voted Republican (which I regret deeply), but as I got older, worked for organizations with a diversified workforce, meeting people outside my bubble, traveling more, talking more, and learning and observing more about injustices in this country and abroad, my views greatly changed.
I deeply regret writing the letter. It happened, and I cannot wish it away. It says more about the person who used a nom de plume to publish anonymously.
The post ends with "It is not known if Marlene Eilers Koenig has ever made amends or apologised for her racist remarks!"
I have to say I apologized many times, not always in words, but in deeds and actions. I must add that my faith guided me away from bigoted thinking to understanding and embracing differences, understanding that we are all one people.
I wish I could sit down with those who responded to the letter with their thoughts, talk with them, and say I apologize.
Now, of course, there will be people who say a leopard never changes its spots." While that might be true for leopards, it is not true for people.
Unfortunately, there are far too many people still in bubbles unwilling to learn or accept that we cannot all be the same, but in the end, we are all the same -- people created by God, we all have gifts to give and embrace the fact that it is important not to take away the chairs at a table but to build a bigger table.
I am deeply sorry and I regret my words. The 29-year-old Marlene no longer exists. This Marlene is nearly 67, a lot wiser, tolerant, and with a mind wide-open.
Some of my readers may wonder why I chose to post this on Royal Musings. I cannot respond to the post on the blog. I expect it is being circulated. I have no intention of covering it up or making excuses. There can be no excuses for my comments.
I hope people will forgive me for those comments.
Thank you.
