March 23, 2023 Village Board Meeting Statements Regarding Village Vandalism

At last night's Board meeting, Mayor Sennett kicked off the meeting with a statement regarding last weekend's vandalism:

"Last Saturday, village residents discovered that during the previous night, vandals had spray painted messages at several locations in the village.  Sadly, one message was not typical pranking but was a message targeting the Jewish members of our community.

Members of this board have heard from friends and neighbors who have expressed their shock and concern and their support for our Jewish residents.  Anti-Semitism has no place in our village, and we condemn the highly offensive comments directed at our Jewish neighbors. Catching the vandals is the highest priority for our Police Department and I’m confident the police will be successful. The perpetrators will be held accountable and will hopefully be made to understand the impact of their actions.

We hear a lot of messages about the divisiveness in our country but we as a board and as a community are united in our stand against Anti-Semitism and any other acts of hate. This is an inclusive community and the actions of a few will not change that."

~Mayor Mary Sennett

Following Mayor Sennett's comments, Trustee Zapata read a statement from the Trustees:

“We were shocked and saddened to have woken up this past weekend to such hate filled vandalism littering our streets. Racism and prejudice have no place here, and we emphatically denounce these messages in the strongest possible terms. They are wrong and will not be tolerated by us, or by our residents. We will continue to work with the authorities for as long as it takes to ensure whoever is responsible for these cowardly acts is held accountable.”

~Board of Trustees

Finally, Trustee Eriksen read a statement he had prepared:

"The Anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on our street us a symptom of a larger disease that has attacked our national politics.  Hate crimes have increased notably over the past decade, and portions of our discourse have allowed political violence more into the mainstream.  Federal law enforcement agencies are united in their opinion that white supremacists are the leading terrorist threat our country faces. 

A major political movement has been built on grievance and cruelty against groups of "others" and has created space for violent language and acts of violence against minority groups.  This movement, and its apologists in the mainstream, have made violent rhetoric and actions more acceptable both overtly and through silence.  As a result, this country faces the challenge of emboldened white supremacists.  We face the challenge of another presidential campaign from a candidate who has been endorsed by the newspaper of the KKK, and who has historically played footsie with violent white supremacist groups.  We also face the crisis of cowardice among those political leaders and commentators who treat this movement like a normal political force.

It is clear that we face this challenge locally, as well.  So what can we do here, in our day-to-day lives to combat these forces of hate?

We can start by speaking up firmly against this particular graffiti.  Making anyone feel unsafe in their community because of how they worship is an act of violence.  We can replace speech like this with positive messages of inclusion.  We can say publicly that we stand with the targets of hate speech.  This takes away the audience for hate speech, and it takes away its power.

We can educate ourselves.  Read books and watch documentaries about the experiences of minority ethnic and religious groups in this country.  Understand how people who don't look like you, speak like you, love like you, or worship like you have experienced America.  By understanding their experiences, we can better understand the contributions that they have made to improve our society.  And we will have a renewed appreciation for the power of inclusion.  We will absolutely be better Americans for it.

Next, when we encounter prejudicial speech in conversation, we can challenge it.  Ask the other person if they truly believe what they just said and express your disagreement.  If that's not your style, you can simply away from people who sympathize with hate speech or who encourage the silence that lets hate flourish.  You do not have to hang out with people who hold prejudicial views.

Finally, we all have the power of our political engagement, which we can use to support just causes and oppose hate.  Support candidates who denounce hate speech publicly.  Do not support those who remain silent on hate speech, and especially those who are unwilling to distance themselves from the hateful rhetoric of their political colleagues and their political leaders.  Understand that a vote for a candidate who refuses to discuss hate speech or who will not denounce hate groups is a vote to make hate speech a little more acceptable.

Critically, beware of those candidates who simply want us to become suddenly and magically unified and to move on from hateful incidents, without any broader discussion.  This is not a true call for healing – it is a call for the silence that permits hate to fester.  There can be no unity without healing, and there can be no healing without difficult discussion.  Those who would avoid discussion cannot help us heal.

We are a charming lakeside village, with pleasant activities year-round.  That's why we live here, but it carries a specific danger that we must combat.  We must fight the attitude that the day is too nice to talk about upsetting matters.  We must not take this attitude.  The lake is never too warm, the fall colors never too bright, and the ski hill never too snow-covered to break the silence that lets hate fester.  Make the time to fight the silence, and we can fight incidents like this one.

I encourage us all to look within ourselves to think of times where we have fallen short.  When have we let the silence win?  Did we let a prejudicial remark slide without pushing back?  Have we donated to a candidate who couldn't denounce the politics of violent grievance because we liked one of their other policies?  Have we allowed a lake day to separate us from positive public action?  If we can identify those times we fell short, we can identify how to improve.

The grievance, cruelty, and hate that have festered within our larger body politic is a cockroach.  But where we live, with these tactics, we can shine a light on it and force it to crawl back from where it came.  I may be leaving this Board, but I am never leaving this fight."

~Trustee Eriksen