The United States is not a place, it’s an idea: constantly evolving and adapting to be a more perfect union. Our country has only grown stronger and more prosperous the more we’ve opened our arms to different cultures and peoples. We do not have just one singular identity or culture, but many.

Unless you are Native American, all of us are immigrants and are decedents from family who came here from some other place, voluntarily or by force. Whether we are white, black, brown or otherwise, we all have stories of survival, love, loss, success and failure. We all have a unique yet similar story that binds us together through the bonds of fellowship.

We are all human, and we all bleed red. Sure, we can disagree about what solutions are right at a particular moment, but this fact is important to remember as we look to dispel and extinguish the cancer eroding the fabric of our society: hate. There is no place for it. It serves no purpose to advance the human experience.

As we’ve seen with the recent mass shootings that are becoming all too frequent, white nationalists and supremacists are a direct threat to what makes America strong and free.

Projecting your insecurities and dissatisfaction with your own life onto people who look different than you doesn’t improve your situation nor address the root problem. A rising tide lifts all boats. You can achieve success without bringing other people down. We just have to have the kind of policies that create a more equitable environment for economic fairness and opportunity in this country.

In our current climate, we have political leaders, even those at the very top, placating the worst among us and stoking fears by pointing fingers at “other” people, placing blame outwardly and away from the very policies that are causing those economic anxieties. It is a distraction and it is being done purposefully.

We need to wake up and realize that our attention is being diverted away from the fact that wealth is being concentrated in the hands of just a few, amplified by massive handouts to corporations, as the rest of us struggle, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or other traits we can’t control.

There is a false narrative being perpetuated; that if you make the effort to help another person, you are cheating yourself. This false narrative creates an attitude of resentment toward individuals and groups who need help. This is obviously a very slippery slope.

Without a doubt, there are very bad and even evil people in this world. There are people who are just racist or bigoted, and nothing we say or do will change that. But there are far more good people than evil in the world, and we can control who we send into positions of power, those who speak for us, who are supposed to set the example of model behavior in a civilized society. We can control what policies we advocate for to create positive outcomes in people’s lives. We can control how we treat fellow human beings right here in our community.

I remain hopeful our people, our values, our grand idea of a country where all are created equal will prevail over the attitudes and anger at the core of the recent examples of violence and hate in our country. It’s going to take all of us to fight back against the tide of hate, not only when we see it or hear it, but when our leaders mask their cowardice behind rhetoric that enflames and emboldens this kind of behavior. We are better than that.

— Justin Chenette is serving his second term in the State Senate representing Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Hollis, Limington and Buxton. He chairs the Government Oversight Committee, co-chairs the Democracy Reform Caucus, and serves on the Environment & Natural Resources Committee. He is also a Citizen Trade Policy Commissioner. Outside the legislature, Justin is a Realtor with the Bean Group and is the Vice President of Saco Main Street.

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