Statement on Respect and Diversity

Press Release from Ald. Tim Gruber, District 11

At this significant point in time, I would like to express my renewed commitment to respect all people and to appreciate the diversity of our people. Not only because they are the right thing to do, but also because they are good for us collectively, I urge us to all renew this commitment to respect and diversity, and to reject racism.
 
When we have deep respect for people, regardless of race, national origin, or other differences, we are all better off and happier. Racism leads to suffering for all; because of the hate in the heart of the person expounding racism, they suffer from a lack of belief in respect for people that will eat away at them; and for the objects of racism, people of color, who have to suffer because of the hate people express.
 
Our diversity is a source of our rich and varied culture, arts, traditions, and economic prosperity. We are better off because of it. Our people of varied races and ethnic groups contribute to our society through their creative thinking, innovations, and hard work.
 
If we dehumanize others, we diminish our own humanity, but if we respect and praise the humanity of others we increase our own humanity.
 
At a neighborhood meeting I attended last week, a Madison Police Officer was in attendance and responded to a question about the racist hate mail recently left at the door of a resident. He made the point that writing a letter, even one as deplorable as the one in question, is protected as freedom of speech. While hateful, it is not a hate crime. A hate crime is a prejudice-motived crime, often violent or the threat of violence, based on the victim's membership or perceived membership in a certain social group. If and actual hate crime occurs, it is expected that the perpetrator will be arrested and prosecuted. In the case of hateful speech, it must be denounced as evil, wrong, hateful, and hurtful. People of good will must respond to such letters with disgust and denounce this kind of racist thinking.
 
But it is not enough to oppose evil, we must also be for kindness, truth, and peace.
 
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "True peace is not merely the absence of some negative force - tension, confusion, or war; it is the presence of some positive force - justice, good will, and brotherhood."
 
We can take this opportunity to reaffirm our belief in community, caring for others, and contributing in a positive way to our collective well being.
 
Now is the time to stand with our neighbors and and up for those who are oppressed.