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Continue to Speak Out

I am disheartened by the responses to the letter of Jan. 19 “This Simple Truth” that focus on whether or not hate crimes have recently occurred in our area [David Egan’s Feb. 2 letter “Question the Motives”], and that refer to our community as “as benign a community as can be found” [“Struck a Chord,” Feb. 16 letter by David Roberts].

These responses miss the heart of the Jan. 19 letter—namely, that our community, like all communities concerned about treating people with respect, needs to be outspoken in opposing hateful acts and policies.

While Guilford is a wonderful community in which I feel fortunate to live, it is imperfect (as all communities and all people are). There is nothing to lose and much to gain from reflecting on what we can all do—individually and as a community—to improve the way in which we treat our neighbors and fellow human beings. Such reflection does seem particularly important at this moment in time.

Roberts’s implication that the hatefulness experienced by people who are targeted by hate groups and hate crimes is on a par with the intolerance experienced by those in Guilford who espouse conservative political views betrays a lack of understanding of what it is like to live with uncertainty regarding the durability of one’s basic rights and the question of whether one or one’s loved ones will be targeted for harm—physically, emotionally, or otherwise.

It is in this spirit of compassion and kindness that the January 19 letter was written. And it is in this spirit that I hope my fellow community members will continue to speak out loudly and persistently.

Adam Spivack

Guilford