I was on several occasions during my visit to Riga confronted by the sight of young Russian men wearing clothing emblazoned with symbols of the former Soviet Union 's CCCP and the hammer and sickle.
Considering what the Soviet Union represented to the people of Latvia, and what the thought of it does to my own sensibilities, I found this display extraordinarily repulsive. Is it acceptable for me, on my next visit to Latvia, to wear the Nazi swastika on my cap? What's the difference? Is it through their own ignorance, an aggressive disrespect of Latvians, or just their own stupidity that these people wear, and are allowed to wear, these symbols?
Reginald Harris
Syracuse, New York
