Hate Has No Place Here

This post is a bit different than my first. Something has happened in the town that I live in that is disturbing and wrong. And I feel I must take to the rooftops and scream loudly about just how wrong this is. So forgive me for spinning off on this topic but it must be said.

I am using this space today to shine an uncomfortable spotlight on an insidious beast that lives in my town and is rising up accross the nation: Ignorance, Intolerance and Racism.

It is a giant writhing, seething viper, that many like to think was buried long ago. There are many that don't, can't or won't see it. Some who refuse to admit it that it never left and that it is once again gaining strength and power.

I assure you, it lives. It sucks the wind out of lungs, leeches the self-esteem out of children, and feels like a punch in the gut every time it appears.

I've seen it many times in my life. I've felt its lash. I've tasted it's poison personally.

I've been speaking out about this beast most recently due to what's happening with the pipeline project out west and the deplorable treatment of the Native peoples and others out there protecting the water. And I've seen this beast strengthen during this disturbing election cycle.  This creature is being given a renewed voice, as if permission has been granted to hate openly, and freely anyone who is deemed "other" which translates often unfortunately to "less than" in the eyes of this horrible monster. 

This week this beast has reared his hideous, ugly head in the town that I live in. A family here, in my town of 32,000 has been tormented and targeted by hate. Their car has been defaced with racial slurs, they have had racist "trash" thrown upon their lawn and they have been called out to leave, told they are not welcome - because someone out there, is filled with hate for people who are different than they are. There is a child in this home. A child who will never forget the fear, the feelings of not belonging, the feeling of being made to feel they are "other" or "different" and not welcome. I could not be more revolted by this abhorrent behavior.

We - all of us who are intelligent, thinking people MUST stand up against this horror. We must unite in making sure this family knows they have a place here. They are welcomed. They belong. And they deserve to live without fear, without harassment and in peace.

When I was growing up, in Nashua, New Hampshire, my family - single mom, with two young girls, went through similar issues. Though it was our blood, not the color of our skin that made us targets. We were terrorized by anti-semitic, ignorant cowards, a different flavor of the same nasty beast.

I saw my mother terrorized by the actions of nameless, faceless people who wanted us to leave, and I remember being afraid to fall asleep many, many nights. And I can tell you, that experiences like this stick. They don't just go away. They can't be dismissed as "childhood pranks". And they can not be ignored.

I hope that the person or persons responsible are caught and punished to the full extent of the law. As I do with the perpetrators of all hate crimes. 

But more than that, let them be an example to others who's hearts are filled with hate. It is YOU, filled with hate, and ignorance that are not welcome here.#HateHasNoPlaceHere