It's time to level up and end hatred

I grew up in Sandpoint. I loved Lake Pend Oreille, the scent of dry pine, and blue silhouetted mountains as much as anyone. Learning these lands weren’t gifted to my pioneering ancestors as I’d naively believed, but taken by them/ their government was a gut punch.

On June 11, a white supremacist group attempted to disrupt the Coeur d'Alene Pride parade and violate celebrants’ First Amendment rights. According to their website, the young men in this supremacist group believe their ancestors conquered America, bequeathing it to future white generations. To them I say, brothers, our ancestors didn’t conquer this land, regardless of their courage and grit. The United States government broke legally binding treaties to thieve this land from the First Peoples. That’s why, when I swim in these ancient beloved lakes, it feels like slipping into a stolen dress.

The gulf between the parade celebrants and the guys in the U-Haul is wide. Yet they each share this oasis of Earth in the dark vastness of space. They are each interconnected with the 8 billion people and 8.7 million species who live here, too. With you and me.

It’s time to level up as a species. Mistreating people because their identities is an unoriginal and soul consuming habit. We’ve got the universe’s most advanced known technologies in our skulls, withering away from the trauma of neglect and violence caused by people and systems. It’s time for a new chapter.

JAIN LILLY

Spokane