Farmers don’t take hate

This letter was written in response to “Modern-day Nazis hide swastikas under sheep’s clothing to sneak into GOP flock” (Shawn Vestal, June 6, 2018).

A proud, oral story from rural Maine tells of the day the Klan tried to rally in one of our Appalachian towns. The Klan believed that because we were mostly poor, uneducated white folk, we’d join right in with their hate toward black and Jewish people.

When the town’s leaders saw the Klan posters outside shops, they replied by posting variations of “Klan hate not welcome here.” The Klan still came. A man who farmed the land next to the rally site made the town’s majority opinion known. Using his manure spreader, he completely fertilized the property line, watering the “fertilizer” repeatedly. The Klan came with their RVs, tents and wood for their fire, only to be choked out by the neighbor’s good farming.

The farmers I know don’t take this racist, bigoted sh*t. We can’t take it either. Maybe it was easier to recognize evil in hoods. These farmers saw the evil. We, farmers, business people, teachers, firefighters, low-wage earners, and all must declare “Hate is not welcome here.” This is not a left vs. right issue. This is right vs. wrong. It’s about the moral soul of our towns.

Genavieve Heywood

Spokane