Stop hateful rhetoric
Ann Ruddy

 

Steven Shulman's Sept. 17 Soapbox alleges that the organizers of the Sustainable Living Fair "decided to exclude any discussion of immigration." Apparently, Shulman didn't attend the presentation of the fair's keynote speaker, Amy Goodman. Goodman gave a fantastic speech in which she talked about human rights abuses, genocide, hate crimes, including discrimination against and hatred of immigrants, and she spoke of our responsibility to stop such things.

Shulman is upset because his group was denied this year another opportunity to bring its anti-immigrant message to the fair. The organizers of the fair did the right thing by disallowing literature that stirs up fear and hate (at least a dislike) of Hispanics.


 
Blaming the victim not only distorts the truth (need we remind Shulman that population increase is an increase of people on the planet, due mostly to birth rates; immigration is the movement of the same number of people from one place to another), it fuels distrust and hate.

Immigrants from all countries, and Hispanics, including native-born Hispanics, have seen an increase in hateful rhetoric and hate-motivated actions directed at them as a direct result of anti-immigrant groups such as Shulman's group. The KKK has seen a dramatic rise in membership due to anti-immigrant sentiment. Immigrants, or those perceived to be immigrants, are being ridiculed, blamed, discriminated against and physically and emotionally attacked in this country. It needs to stop, and stopping hateful literature at a local event is a good place to start.

Ann Ruddy,
Fort Collins