Letter: Democrats are working together for a better community

Posted 2/6/19

I am writing in response to the recently published letter, “ 68th District is and should remain a Bristol seat ,” that specifically criticized the local Democratic Party. The author, as …

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Letter: Democrats are working together for a better community

Posted

I am writing in response to the recently published letter, “68th District is and should remain a Bristol seat,” that specifically criticized the local Democratic Party. The author, as many will recall, very publicly left this Party with a barrage of disparaging comments and name calling

which were published on the front page of this paper on his way out.

Over the past several years, the Bristol Democratic Town Committee (BDTC) has worked diligently to build an inclusive, engaged membership who share a commitment to our Democratic values. I am proud to have witnessed and participated in this growth, and to have been recently elected as the chair of this committee.

One of the strongest tenets of the Democratic Party is that of equality on all fronts. Democrats believe in equal opportunity regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. We believe in equal educational opportunity for all. We also believe in strong ethical standards, and that means we stand up for what’s right — no matter what —even if we identify that wrongdoing has occurred within our own Party.

Bristol and Warren are both represented in the State House in District 68. The two towns, while each unique, share many commonalities, including our shoreline and our school district. The author of this recently published letter continues to pit one town against another by implying that an elected representative would only be able to care for the town where they reside.

I would ask: How can we truly partner and build upon our mutual strengths to our mutual benefit when people continue to spout this kind of divisive rhetoric?

It is incredibly disappointing to continuously read letters in this newspaper criticizing Democrats and the processes of our local Democratic Party by authors that are not, themselves, Democrats. Last week, in a letter titled “The Democratic party of JFK is no more,” the author said that the Democratic Party is not the same as it was in 1961. And to that I say: good!

Here are just a few examples of monumental changes that were led by Democrats in our country and in our state after 1961:

• In 1964 President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, signed the Civil Rights act, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

• In 1972 it was Democrats who championed Title 9 of the education amendments, which prohibits gender discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.

• In Rhode Island in 2013, it was Democrats who led the effort to change our laws to allow every individual the right to marry the person they love regardless of gender.

These are just some examples of the good work that Democrats have done in the past 58 years. We could not have achieved this progress without consistently assessing our priorities and approaches, or without a willingness to adapt to the changing needs of our communities. It seems strange to me that this kind of reflection and growth could be framed as a negative.

Staying mired in the past simply because that is ‘how it has always been’ is a surefire way to miss out on all the amazing opportunities that the future holds.

It is also strange to me that neither of the two most frequently published critics of local Democrats in this paper actually lives in House District 68, and therefore neither is able to vote in this Special Election. Why do they continuously aim to divide with name calling, labeling, and scare-tactics? What exactly is their agenda?

I am confident that the BDTC, and the Democratic Party as a whole, will continue to work for the Democratic values that we all share, and to make our communities and our state stronger … together.

Erich Haslehurst

Bristol

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