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    If You Remember Stan Lee For Anything, Let It Be This Quote

    Stan Lee's rant about racism from 1968 is as relevant today as it was then.

    The Marvel universe lost a legend today when it was announced that Stan Lee died at the age of 95.

    As a writer, Lee was known for his gift with words. After all, he's the guy who came up with the line, "With great power there must also come great responsibility."

    But one of his most important quotes came from his regular column, "Stan's Soapbox," which appeared in Marvel Comics issues. This particular one was from 1968, and spoke out against racism and bigotry:

    Here's the full text in case that image is a little tough to read:

    “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, Stan.”

    It's a speech that's still relevant today, as proven by the fact that Lee tweeted out the column in August 2017, shortly after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. "As true today as it was in 1968," Lee wrote. "Pax et Justitia."

    As Stan himself would say:

    CORRECTION

    Charlottesville is in Virginia. A previous version of this post misstated the city’s location.