The Silence of Our Friends…

Here is a deeply unsettling article.
What bothers me most is not the racist tweets or even that the original tweets were retweeted or favorited. What bothers me most is what caused Kevin Downes to resign. That the school in which he taught and coached and the community in which he lived was silent until, as he says, the tweets made the news. Maybe if what happened in Mahopac was an isolated incident we could say too bad and then move on.
But it is not an isolated incident.
It happens here.
In my own backyard.
In our neighborhood schools.
On the streets where I walk and in the stores where I shop.
Comments are made.
Disapproving looks are exchanged or eyes are turned away.
Questions are asked or concerns are expressed is such a way which only slightly veil the real intent. And, what REALLY makes me swallow hard is the realization that here is just like there.
We are silent.
I am silent.
And our silence…
Our unwillingness to face and to talk about or to challenge what is said or done gives tacit permission for it all to continue.