On Saturday, Oct. 24, I attended a rally in Athol for Biden/Harris, with speakers including state Sen. Anne Gobi, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, and retired state Sen., Stephen Brewer. It was well-attended, and speakers were thoughtful, hopeful, and encouraging, including a number of young people running for local offices for the first time.
Part of the reason I traveled from Greenfield to Athol to attend this rally was because I am aware that there is a higher concentration of Trump supporters in the Athol and Orange area and I especially wanted to show my support for Biden/Harris there. So, on driving up to the Athol Upper Common, I was not surprised to see a Trump presence at the Biden rally, until I realized that there was actually nothing but a Trump presence at the Common. No Biden/Harris signs anywhere. And the Trump supporters were raucously yelling through their bullhorns and waving their ubiquitous flags all over the Common and almost into the street (Route 2A).
Luckily, the Biden organizers had left a couple of young people to look out for confused folks like me, and they let me know the Biden/Harris rally had moved to Fish Park in Athol. So I proceeded there and joined the carefully socially distanced rally.
All would have been well and good, except for what happened next. It turns out that the Trump supporters had not been content in taking over the original location of the Biden/Harris rally, causing it to be moved. (Yes, I learned that the Biden organizers had found out through social media that Trump supporters intended to show up en masse to disrupt their rally, and they had decided to move to Fish Park at the last minute).
About three quarters of the way through the Biden speaker program, Trump supporters began appearing at the edge of Fish Park in their flag-festooned pickups. They gathered there with a couple of bullhorns and began yelling taunts, chanting, waving their flags, and clearly intending to disrupt the rally. Some migrated into the Biden/Harris rally area with their overly large signs. But they soon returned to their group when Biden supporters quietly stood in front of and socially distanced around them, blocking their signs from view.
Overall, the Biden/Harris supporters’ calm response denied Trump supporters any kind of aggressive confrontation they may have been looking for. Veteran speakers Jim McGovern and Stephen Brewer had no problem speaking to the situation and continuing to lead with grace and civility. And early on, organizer Mitch Grosky brilliantly thought to lead the rally in singing “God Bless America,” which seemed to surprise the Trump crowd into momentary silence.
Here’s the thing, Trump supporters: You are not helping yourselves. If you are motivated by a feeling that politicians do not understand the dire situation faced by most of the people in our country right now, I can totally agree with you. But what makes you think Trump’s disruption of all norms and dismantling of government is going to help that? Destruction only leaves a void which gets filled by authoritarian power. (Trump: “Only I can fix this.”). What makes you think you will matter then?
Please stop with the bullying and allow us all to talk with each other again. There are many things we can agree on, most especially that we want to live in a fair, safe, and healthy world for all. Who knows? We might even be able to help you see that there is nothing to fear about living in our increasingly multicultural society. That, in fact, has been the goal of America all along.
Susanae Glovacki lives in Greenfield.