WASHINGTON — Apropos of a 22-year-old deranged student’s slaughter of his male roommates, two coeds, and another male student, as well as leaving 13 injured and in the hospital, I have been doing my research. In the courses of which, I came across this quote on the front page of Tuesday’s New York Times. A second-year student in global studies at the university where the crimes were committed said in the news story’s second paragraph that, “If we don’t talk misogyny now, when are we going to talk about it?” She went on in the next paragraph with similar profundities.

It put me in mind of another quote from the Times on Sunday in the op-ed section by columnist Charles M. Blow. He was commenting on the owner of the Dallas Mavericks’ allegedly “bigoted” remark (though it seemed perfectly sensible to me) a few days before. Blow said the remark typified “the endlessly ached-for, perpetually stalled ‘national conversation on race’ that many believe is needed but neglected. …”