We aren’t born with a sense of hate. I believe that it is something learned, something we take along with us as we grow as a result of overexposure to negativity, to judgment, to a lack of acceptance and love.
Hate fills our newspapers and TV screens on a daily basis, from bombings, shootings, and the intolerance of differences — and we don’t even realize how this impacts our children.
Just today, a constituent wrote to me about a group of adolescent boys who rang his family’s doorbell and called his husband a homophobic slur while running away to a neighbor’s home. This forces me to ask, what’s going on here? Or when a government legislator is the target of MULTIPLE racist attacks — I have to ask, what’s going on here? I have to be honest; this makes my blood boil.
Hate cannot become a norm in our society and we all have a responsibility to end it here, locally, in our hometown. Start with yourself — I encourage you to meet with and learn from your neighbors. We should be there for each other. Then, sit down with your children and talk about our differences as people, as neighbors, and friends. They look to you for guidance.
We can no longer say, “those weren’t my kids who rang the doorbell” or “I didn’t send that email to Town Hall” because if we sit back and watch this hate unravel — we are just as much to blame. Have we forgotten that we are all in this together? I don’t think so. I think we just need a bit of a reminder. Take a stand for your children’s sake — that they won’t become a source of hate, but rather a beam of love.
There is no place for hate in Greenfield.
Ashli Stempel
City Councilor Precinct 8
Greenfield