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Something as anonymous as a flyer, cowardly distributed by night, leaves everyone in the dark as to who’s behind this and what their motives are. That mystery may be why folks are unhappy about how this is being handled. Some people are quick to create the sense of a well-organized white-supremacist presence in our area. In my daily life I don’t see this but that doesn’t mean we should ignore these hateful expressions. Let’s caution ourselves to generalize and point fingers from any side, for any reason.

I think it shameful that those behind the flyers are unwilling to claim responsibility. They ought to be prosecuted for hate speech and intimidation. Some derail the whole debate by claiming it’s not about race but about ideology, referring to another sociopolitical issue; refugee resettlement. I agree that cultural ideology is a different matter than race. As I understand it, the press conference held last week was about flyer that states “negroids are not fully human.” If not racist, what is it?

I was raised in a small, mostly white village in the Netherlands until three years ago. I go back once a year and the refugee crisis along with terrorist threats have changed the feeling of the place. If anyone is interested in understanding the effects of refugee resettlement, talk to a European or a refugee. Don’t get carried away in xenophobia, fearing something you do not understand.

MARJOLEIN GROOT NIBBELINK

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