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Two men complete strangers were killed and one injured on a train in Portland after they came to the aid of two young women when another passenger began ranting and raving and shouting anti-Muslim hate speech.

I am saddened that these men lost their lives and at the same time I am inspired by their bravery.

I will be the first to admit that racially motived hate crimes, stoked by the venomous rants of politicians on the campaign trail, have me rethinking this whole forgiveness thing.

When then-candidate Donald Trump stood that the podium and said, I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldnt lose voters my first thought was the Bible verse that reads, Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18).

As president, Trump seems no less prideful. He seems impervious to the biblical outcome of pride. Wheres his fall from grace?

As much as ones pride is an indicator of pending destruction, in politics, its the pride of ones supporters, donors and endorsers that also sustains him and one thing seems certain; if the pride of the base doesnt disappear there will be no fall.

I think maybe weve been looking at this politically driven racism thing all wrong. As anti-racism activist Tim Wise stated, Instead of asking what its like to be black what we should be asking is what is it like to be white.

Racism is not as much a driver of the divisive rhetoric we hear today, as much as pride. The kind of pride that makes it easy to speak the worst of someone of another race and to separate yourself from others.

Now, Im OK with separation. Fruits and vegetables are happy in the produce aisle, separated from fish and shrimp. Its unfair segregation that bothers me.

Equality or equal quality is what makes separation work at least in the grocery store. But to address segregation we need equity. All pride aside, simply put, equality means everyone is treating the same.

Equity means not treating anyone differently. We desperately need to talk about equity.

Richard Cuff, Jacksonville

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Friday's Lead Letter: Pride goes before the fall - Florida Times-Union