Letter: Identity politics is the real bully now

Posted 12/10/20

I am writing in response to the letter written by Erich Haslehurst, dated Nov. 25 . Except for Mr. Haslehurst’s kind and appropriate words about our former town clerk, his letter appeared to me …

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Letter: Identity politics is the real bully now

Posted

I am writing in response to the letter written by Erich Haslehurst, dated Nov. 25. Except for Mr. Haslehurst’s kind and appropriate words about our former town clerk, his letter appeared to me to be a victory lap. It carried a tone of “we won, you lost, so deal with it.”

It’s no surprise to me that the Democrats did well locally — after all, this is Rhode Island. What is unfortunately also not a surprise is Mr. Haslehurst’s lack of concern for people who do not agree with everything he does.

As the leader to the Bristol Democratic party, I would have hoped that his letter would have addressed the opposing opinions with a promise that his party’s candidates would be more open to listening. Mr. Haslehurst’s entire playbook is identity politics. Maybe he should ask what the voters want, instead of telling them what his party thinks they need.

This is not a national stage, Mr. Haslehurst, this a small town. So drop the national identity politics game and get back to basics. Start thinking locally. Things like, is the town spending too much money? Is the town on a stable financial footing? Have we really dived deeply into the town budget and made difficult decisions that must be made? Or did we kick the can down the road? Is the town heading in a direction that lifts the quality of life for “all,” residents or just the ones who agree with you politicly?

I don’t ever recall seeing any letters from him about fiscal responsibility. Mr Haslehurst wrote a letter earlier in the year about being bullied. It was a sincere letter based on his life experiences, which I believe unfortunately did happen to him.

Why can’t he see that “Identity Politics” is the bully now? It divides us. It marginalizes people, and it makes coming together for the forgiveness you are looking for, that much harder.

Brian W. Clark 
Bristol

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