Letter: Fold up your politics for the day

Posted 8/24/22

To the editor:

On Saturday the Collaborative, headed by Uriah Donnelly and supported by a committed Board of Trustees and corps of loyal volunteers, organized its 6th annual Folks Fest …

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Letter: Fold up your politics for the day

Posted

To the editor:

On Saturday the Collaborative, headed by Uriah Donnelly and supported by a committed Board of Trustees and corps of loyal volunteers, organized its 6th annual Folks Fest fundraiser, once again graciously hosted by Dave Wescott behind his mill at 30 Cutler Street. The money raised through donations at the day-long party provides the major funding for the cultural and educational community projects the Collaborative runs throughout the year.

The Folks Fest has become an increasingly popular (free) community event that offers abundant arts and crafts, music, food, and in the case of this year’s event, abundant sun and heat. No matter, the people came, in droves, and a great vibe flowed through the afternoon crowd.

Center-stage was the music, which was varied and popping. Yet, there was a persistent sour note that played off-stage. At one point a man wearing a politically partisan, intentionally provocative and polarizing t-shirt joined the crowd and moseyed about in it. That he participated in the community event was great; that he wore that t-shirt to it was not. It didn’t create a problem, but it did produce a negative tinge among some, me included.

“Well, it’s free speech, and it’s his right!”

Yes, it is. But having a right doesn’t mean that one has to exercise that right 24/7, regardless of situation, regardless of others. Apart from raising operating funds, the broader goal of the Folks Fest, as is the goal of the upcoming Balasco family’s Family Fun Day and of the October music event Folk At The Farm (Frerichs), not to mention of all the other upcoming town events large and small, is to bring community together and celebrate where we live; to provide an occasion where we can strengthen our connection to one another as neighbors. Political messages that only strive to engage in partisan shoving matches, such as this man was wearing at the Folks Fest, weaken what those community events strive to achieve.

So, while absolutely respecting the right to exercise free speech, I propose that we as individuals in a community of others exercise that right with discretion, exercising it where and when it has a clear aim – a rally, a protest, something with an overt political purpose; that out of respect for our neighbors and fellow community-members who may have differing views, or have no views but simply don’t want every public occasion turned into and spoiled by political/partisan jousting, we individuals of this community, regardless of our politics, exercise measured restraint. If our townsfolk are heading to an event to have a pleasant afternoon or to forget about the troubles of their days, perhaps we shouldn’t, as a matter of neighborly courtesy, introduce discord into that event, even if we have the right to.

Having a right does not compel one to exercise that right. As I am over 18 years old, I have a right to purchase and smoke cigarettes. That doesn’t mean I have to smoke, nor does having the right imply that I should smoke. And while from the perspective of rights smoking may seem a poor parallel for speaking one’s mind, they share a similarity in that just as one is not obligated to smoke one is not obligated to speak one’s mind, and in fact, there may be occasions when indeed one should not speak their mind.

I suggest that non-political community events intended to foster good spirits, such as the Folks Fest, the Family Fun Day, Folk at the Farm are such occasions. The Folks Fest has passed, but if you plan to attend Family Fun Day and/or Folk at the Farm, as surely their event planners hope you will, out of respect to your neighbors consider leaving that partisan/polarizing t-shirt in the dresser drawer for the afternoon. There’ll be plenty of other instances for wearing it.

Jerry Blitefield
Beach Street

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.