To the editor:

After weeks of negative, often vicious, political ads, I am bracing for the next few months. Appealing to fears that stir feelings of “them vs. us” is sure to flood some campaigns. Recent past elections targeted gay and lesbian citizens as threats to our families, neighbors and society at large. Now the threat has grown to include “illegals” in Kansas. Unfortunately, stirring fear and creating superficial groups of others is seen as a winning strategy.

Two stories in the Aug. 1 Journal-World illustrate just how complex the issue of immigration really is. The KU student who has lived here since he was 6 months old but could be deported and the mother forced to leave behind three very young children put human faces on this tragic problem.

I find politicians who smugly spew slogans that strip people of their humanity very troubling, very dangerous. Who will it be next time? Will I be American enough, white enough, Christian enough to avoid being undesirable?

In the late ’50s, Dr. Tom Dooley, working in southeast Asia said, “Today demands a deeper emphasis on the brotherhood of man.” And so it must be today.