The vast majority of the citizens of the Brainerd lakes area are descendants of immigrants who came to the U.S. within the past 200 years. Many of those immigrants were the victims of discrimination and prejudice. Whether they were Irish or Slavic or German or Finnish or African or Catholic or Protestant or Jewish or whatever, they were the "others" to those who had already established communities here, and they were judged to be dirty or ignorant or un-American in some way.
Some citizens of our community have ancestry on this land that dates back hundreds of generations. They faced even greater persecution and prejudice for being the "other".
For the past 150 years or so, American society has been moving generally, though not always steadily, towards an attitude of more tolerance, less hate. Unfortunately, now we have put fear and hate in charge at the national level.
I would call on everyone in our community, especially those in leadership positions, to affirm that we want our region to be known as a place that welcomes diversity. I want to live in a place where "others" are simply people who can broaden our understanding of the world.
Anne Nelson Fisher
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Brainerd
