REGIONAL SAMPLING

The St. Louis chapter of the NAACP seems to have overreacted, and tardily at that, to remarks made about six weeks ago by KMOX radio's Anne Keefe. The civil rights group wants Ms. Keefe fired for allegedly showing insensitivity to disadvantaged blacks. Apparently thinking her microphone was off, Ms. Keefe said she was tired of listening to blacks and others complaining about their plight. She later said she commented on the tendency of people to refuse to accept responsibility for their own lives.

The NAACP here apparently believes that this makes a bigot of Ms. Keefe. Surely, though, it is possible to have deep sympathy for oppressed minorities yet still lose patience with those who seem to look first for someone else to blame. In this instance, the NAACP might be an example of what Ms. Keefe was talking about.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch