The transition to the New Year ought to be a time to reflect and plan, set a new or modified course, perhaps some achievable goals, but always with a positive focus.  I doubt that anyone’s New Years’ resolution is to gain weight, stop going to the gym, or be spiteful to one’s neighbors.  But spiteful is exactly what an unsigned letter, with a false return address, urged to Oregon coastal leaders last week.  The mailing of the letters mirrors others that have been reported around the nation and in Northern Virginia this past year.  What seemed more insidious about the Oregon letter was that it included specific instructions on how and where to collect information about people suspected of being in the United States illegally.

Churches, stores, schools, and work sites were highlighted in the letter.  “If you see brown folks, record the plate number. This is extremely important if you attend a catholic church – many brown folks are catholics!” (Both references to Catholic were not capitalized.)  The letter also expressed a fear that “brown folks currently in Idaho and Montana” might move to Oregon, so multiple state license plates needed to be recorded.  Then, the letter continued, “brown folks” properties will be confiscated just like the Japanese during World War II, and then there will be a lot of homes on the market for “us white folks” to purchase at very affordable prices.

Oregon’s Attorney General, elected officials and the county sheriff’s office condemned such behavior as “harmful, divisive, and inconsistent with the values upheld as public servants and community members.”  Of course it is.  Most community leaders would agree, and some would speak out. Elected official or not, we all should speak out.  Yes, it would be easier to ignore the hateful comments, assuming they represent an individual or a very small group and withdraw into the safety and comfort of anonymity.  But ignoring hate speech is antithetical to the very basis of the democracy treasured by most Americans.  Good people must speak out – at work, at worship, at the dinner table.  Remaining quiet allows evil to triumph, as the saying goes.

At the end of the presidential campaign, Donald Trump opined that “the enemy within” was more dangerous to America than Russia or China.  He was referring to Democrats and his political opponents, but the true enemies within are the hate groups, conspiracy theorists, white nationalists and social media trolls who assault democratic principles and those who believe in them. We’ve been here before.  Interning Japanese-American citizens during World War II, impugning State Department employees by innuendo during the Joseph McCarthy “Red Scare” of the 1950s, red-lining neighborhoods to prevent home sales to persons of color or certain faiths, victimizing LGBTQ+ in employment and housing – at some point, sadly, all were condoned by federal, state and local governments caught up in some sort of “anti” fervor that traded on fear and division.  Under a new Trump Administration, fear and division will dictate once again…unless good people speak up and speak out.  

The close election result was no mandate, but a manifestation of how polarized we are in this country.  If Congress and the White House will not, or cannot, bring us together, we must work to do it ourselves.  Our democratic institutions still exist; they have been threatened before and held strong as wars and internal strife consumed energy, trust, and treasure. There should be room in our nation, and in our hearts, to respect differences and share similarities, and return to the understanding that democracy takes work, a lot of it.  The New Year is forecast to be bumpy and chaotic, as will the few years beyond, but the pendulum always seeks equilibrium.  What’s your New Years’ Resolution?