To the editor:

As a citizen of Sidney with children and a former student of Lehman High School, I urge all county and city leaders to state unequivocally that white supremacy is morally, ethically, and scientifically wrong. I also urge them to iterate in no uncertain terms that violence is never the answer to our disagreements.

After the events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend, our president failed to do this in a clear and concise manner. He tried to draw comparisons between people who showed up with semi automatic weapons and torches to beat counter-protesters with people who showed up to exercise their constitutional right to disagree.

I hope that my children will hear it from local leaders in his stead. In times of deep political division, I still have hope that right is right and wrong is wrong. I hope for my children that strong community leaders will not fear standing up for right when it is necessary. What is right in this instance IS to stand for equality, to disavow white supremacy, to remind the community that our true history, our true legacy as Americans, is standing up for the marginalized and the oppressed. We fought for freedom in the American Revolution. We fought against slavery in the Civil War. We fought fascism and anti-semitism in WWII. We fought racism during the Civil Rights movement. That is our common history. That is our legacy. That should celebrated. I hope that our leaders can make a statement for what is good and right.

Maureen O’Keefe

Sidney