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A column written by Stan Lee in 1968 will make you miss him even more

Oonagh Keating. Updated November 13th, 2018

Even though he was 95, the death of Marvel supremo Stan Lee has dealt a shocking blow to comic fans across the world. As well as creating Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, Iron Man and a host of other iconic characters, Stan Lee was known for making cameo appearances in film adaptations of Marvel stories and, at one time, for writing a column called Stan’s Soapbox, which he would often sign off with the word “Excelsior!”.

In 1968, at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., he wrote an essay decrying the evils of racism and bigotry, which is as relevant now as it was the day he wrote it.

Let’s lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today. But, unlike a team of costumed super-villains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them—to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are.

The bigot is an unreasoning hater—one who hates blindly, fanatically, indiscriminately. If his hang-up is black men, he hates ALL black men. If a redhead once offended him, he hates ALL redheads. If some foreigner beat him to a job, he’s down on ALL foreigners. He hates people he’s never seen—people he’s never known—with equal intensity—with equal venom.

Now, we’re not trying to say it’s unreasonable for one human being to bug another. But, although anyone has the right to dislike another individual, it’s totally irrational, patently insane to condemn an entire race—to despise an entire nation—to vilify an entire religion.

Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits. Sooner or later, if man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill out hearts with tolerance. For then, and only then, will we be truly worthy of the concept that man was created in the image of God–a God who calls us ALL—His children. Pax et Justitia!

Not everybody believes in a higher power, but we can all appreciate this clear vision of racism as an irrational and extremely unnecessary force in the world. Stan Lee wasn’t just a creative genius, he was a wonderful human being.

LA Times writer, Jen Yamato, shared a picture of the column.


Her post of his words acted as the perfect tribute.

https://twitter.com/unclejeresq/status/1062172236486868992

R.I.P. Stan Lee.

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