On Human Diversity

I believed this when The New York Times published it in 2003 and stand by it today:

Of Human Complexity
March 6, 2003

To the Editor:

''Another Round in the Skirmish Over Eliot and Anti-Semitism,'' by Emily Eakin (Shelf Life column, March 1), serves to underscore the fact that people are multidimensional. All too often, we encounter those who love humanity but hate people, and vice versa. Hitler was a vegetarian. The papers of some of our founding fathers sometimes demean Jews.

Simple categorization is rarely quite so simple — an important concept to bear in mind in this age as well.

CARL L. HEIMOWITZ

Montclair, N.J., March 1, 2003