[Vision2020] "We are the answer"

[Paul Rumelhart]

If black teenagers wearing hoods were being harassed here in Moscow, I'd 
be suggesting that we should all be more tolerant of others on this 
list.  If Muslim women in Moscow were being harassed I'd be suggesting 
that we should all be more tolerant of each other.  But if one 
particular faith is being singled out because of their beliefs and some 
bad blood between list members, I'm effectively shunned if I suggest 
that we be more tolerant of them.

What a world.

Paul

On 03/30/2012 02:25 PM, Saundra Lund wrote:
> 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
>
>
>
> =======================================================
>   List services made available by First Step Internet,
>   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                 http://www.fsr.net
>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================
>