[Vision2020] "We are the answer"

[Saundra Lund]

Visionaries:

I know not all here would agree -- some choose to focus on the "intolerance"
of so-called Intoleristas rather than on the public intolerance of bigoted
groups that galvanized some of us to pull our complacent heads from the sand
-- but this eloquently and accurately reflects my thoughts:
"We must be active architects of a better country and a better world.
Silence in the face of bigotry and discrimination is agreement and consent.
We must challenge every instance of inequality, no matter how small it is.
While overcoming our history's dark side is not pleasant, it is something we
must actively do every day."

Here's the full letter that was published in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily
News:

Letter to the Editor
We are the answer
Posted: Friday, March 30, 2012 1:00 am | Updated: 8:22 am, Fri Mar 30, 2012.

My heart is deeply grieved by the recent news that Shaima Alawadi, an Iraqi
mother of five living in California was beaten to death by a tire iron.
Found on her body was a note that said, "Go back to your own country. You're
a terrorist." This incident shows the long-reaching effects the political
rhetoric and rancor of the past 10 years has had on the American psyche. A
spark of anger and hatred spurred by our popular culture and political
leaders has turned into a fire within the fringe of our country.

Gay youth are committing suicide due to relentless intimidation and
harassment. Travyon Martin was gunned down for what some call "wearing a
hood while black." And the murder of Alawadi. All point to a startling
problem. There is a dark side of American culture. While it's underground,
it's still there. A deep seated resentment of other races, of people unlike
us, lies in the hearts of many. This dark side exists everywhere. I cannot
count how many times I have heard racial, homophobic and sexist slurs at
sporting events, social gatherings, even in the work place and classes. This
isn't just a problem isolated to my community, but it is ingrained within
the very fabric of our society.

It would be easy for us to give up hope, hope of a better tomorrow, a
tomorrow without wrathful hatred and reckless violence. But we cannot. We
are the answer to the problem. We must be active architects of a better
country and a better world. Silence in the face of bigotry and
discrimination is agreement and consent. We must challenge every instance of
inequality, no matter how small it is. While overcoming our history's dark
side is not pleasant, it is something we must actively do every day.


Derrick Skaug
ASWSU Vice-President Elect
Pullman

__________

Indeed.


Saundra Lund
Moscow, ID

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
nothing.
~ Edmund Burke