My wife and I moved to rural Wisconsin this past summer. She is a doctor and we thought that this would be a good place for us to raise a family. I have only had a few experiences with racism here but enough that I felt a letter to the local newspaper was needed. Below is the text of my letter to the editor. Maybe they will publish it.
As a newcomer to the Cumberland area I was concerned about racist sentiment in the area. At first when my wife and I moved down here I thought that my concerns were misplaced. We heard no racist sentiments while we were courted to move here. Now that we have been here a while I see that my concerns were not misplaced.
Occasionally I like to go to a bar and have a few drinks. The last couple of times I have been out I have heard some disturbingly racist comments. Though I may look like your normal European white male; my father was born and raised in Puerto Rico. My family has always encountered various forms of racism.
Let me recount the last situation I experienced in Cumberland. I was sitting listening to a few guys talk when somebody made a comment about the work habits of Mexicans. One guy mentioned that he was so surprised that the Mexican he worked with wasn’t lazy like the rest of them. I am sure there are lazy people from Mexico, but to paint them all with the same brush is an ignorant thing to do. I would venture to guess that the immigrants that clean our hotel rooms and do the jobs people born here are not willing to do, work a lot harder than the vast majority of us: at a fraction of the pay.
The comment that set me off was a comment by a "gentlemen", who used to live in Chicago, that Barack Obama was Muslim. I asked him how he could make such a ridiculous comment and why would it matter. His response was everyone knows it is true and Obama was black. Then a comment about Farrakhan supporting him. When I pressed him he made some insane comment that he was from Chicago and all black churches there were the same. So I asked "you mean all black people in Chicago or Moslem?" He said no but they "all" preach the same thing. I pressed him about what he meant and he made a comment about hating America. In his mind all African-Americans hate America, therefore Barack Obama hates America and is Moslem. It was tough to follow the logic bit I guess to a twisted racist mind it makes sense. I then asked if he felt the same about Puerto Ricans and he said he though Puerto Ricans are ok. I have heard enough racist comments through the years to know what it feels like to be treated like you are not as worthy as others. I may be part Anglo, but I am also part Hispanic. To know that the people you live around feel different about you just because they may know your lat name is a painful thing.
Cumberland is a city that worries about declining population and students for school. How can this area expect to attract families when I, a half-breed Puerto Rican feel the racism? How is a black person going to feel? What do the Native Americans feel? I imagine an Islamic person would feel like they were run out of town. Why should people be treated like that?
There will be African-Americans and Hispanics that companies like 3M will want to bring to town. Maybe there have been people like this in the past. I would venture to guess they didn’t stay long in the community.
I want to make sure that those who continue to be prejudiced and live a life a hate toward those that are different, that I am not going anywhere. I am going to be a long time resident. I am going to be in your bars and when you say something stupid and prejudiced and racist, I will call you on it. When you cannot back up your comments with facts I will destroy your position with facts. I have had to spend my whole life justifying myself and my family. I am tired of it, but I am more than willing to carry on the fight.