To the editor:

It is very important that we discuss the burning of a swastika into the sign on the bike path near Temple Habonim. Police Chief John LaCross confirmed our impression that it is rare to find anti-semitic graffiti in Barrington. So why now? 

Perhaps the children who made this swastika thought it would be funny to get us going. Some may think that we shouldn’t get too upset, so they don’t get the rise from us they wanted. But that would be a mistake.

The children who did this should understand that what they did disgusts us. We hope they will feel our revulsion and reflect on the hurt they have caused. Part of becoming a human being is to learn how to treat other people. We hope the people who made this swastika will one day feel badly and wish they hadn’t done it. We hope they will seek, perhaps secretly, perhaps for the rest of their lives, to redeem themselves and prove themselves to be truly human.

But the children who made this swastika are not the only children to consider. We are concerned with all the children who witness our response. These are the children who witness our daily conversations and media programming. Somehow it has become acceptable to disparage entire religions, ethnic groups and others who seem different from how we think of ourselves. It’s all over the television, radio and internet. It is coming from the Oval Office, from elected officials and from many pulpits. We hear it at social events and even family gatherings. We hear the term “politically correct” used as an insult. And the children are listening all the time.

We are experiencing a highly-effective and time-honored technique to manipulate people. A wannabe leader emerges and points outside the group, declaring: “'They’ are the problem! 'They’ are the threat. Gather together behind me and I will lead you against ‘them’!” The dictionary has a word for this: demagogue. The leader gains office but the problems that really need solving are ignored.

We face an important choice at this moment in time. We risk teaching a generation of American children to hate people of other religions. We risk teaching them to hate people from other countries. We risk teaching them to hate anyone who is different.

For the sake of all of us, we need the children to hear us say that we accept and appreciate people who are different. We need them to know we feel compassion for others. They need to see us try to help. 

The sign with the swastika was quickly removed and replaced with expressions of acceptance and love of others. How can we remove and replace the hateful narrative in our public discourse?

Tim Mize & Mary Jane Begin

Barrington