95 vs. 39

Nelson Mandela, a champion of human rights and racial equality globally, not just in South Africa, left us yesterday. He was 95, an age I find amazing given that he was a target of bigotry for decades. His age at death contrasts sharply with the murder of  civil rights  champion, Dr. Martin Luther King at age 39; I repeat, 39.

Two countries. Two champions. Gone. But they left us in such different ways. While I mourn the loss of  Nelson Mandela, I have greater remorse for the more than 11,232 firearm deaths in the United States since the Newton massacre on December 14, 2012.  Violence is our newest threat to human rights.