Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 22, 2022

Rep. Brian Egolf, Rep. Javier Martnez, Rep. Joy Garratt, Rep. Angelica Rubio and Sen. Harold Pope Jr.| Your view

As the news broke last weekend of a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, we joined the nation in mourning the tragic loss of 10 lives. As it became clear that this massacre was an act of terrorism against Black Americans committed by a racist white supremacist, our grief gave way to anger.

This is not the first time in recent history that a young person committed a heinous crime while espousing white supremacist rhetoric.We fearthat as long as the hateful lies that motivated the killer in Buffalo are allowed to spread unchecked, such racist violence will also continue to spread.

Here in New Mexico, where we have long celebrated cultural diversity and our rich heritage, we hear echoes of this rhetoric. In the Republican primary for the governors race, the candidates keep trying to outdo each other with lies about dangerous illegals entering our country, or insisting that learning our history and how it impacts us today is harmful to our kids.

Behind these lies about the supposed dangers of immigration or learning history, Republican candidates send coded messages to New Mexico voters claiming falsely that new arrivals to New Mexico are a threat and that minority groups are to blame for all that ails society. The Republican candidates message has disturbing parallels to the disgusting and un-American conspiracy theory called the Great Replacement Theory a White Nationalist ideology that claims whites are being replaced by non-white minorities. This vile idea has given rise to racially motivated hate crimes across our country and around the world.

As lawmakers with different backgrounds, we know that our communities can all rise together if we focus on what we have in common, not what may divide us. However, we are seeing more and more people in positions of power use coded (and occasionally, not-so-coded) language to stoke fear and racial division that tears at the fabric of our community. If we do not push back and hold our leaders to higher standards, we will further erode community trust. We also risk more horrific violence at the hands of dangerous individuals who have bought into these lies spread by politicians simply for political gain.

Hate crimes like the shooting in Buffalo, the racist massacre of Latinos in El Paso, or the killing of Jews at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, are chilling reminders that words have consequences, especially the words of people with large platforms like elected officials and political candidates.

When candidates focus on fear-mongering about critical race theory (even though the Public Education Department has plainly shown that it is not being taught in our schools) and immigration, instead of their positive vision for New Mexico, we have to hold them to account.

Fortunately, we know New Mexicans are strong enough to learn from our history and smart enough to see through these lies. What the constituents in our districts want are good jobs that will allow them to provide for their families. They want their kids to get a good education. They want safe neighborhoods. That is where we will put our energy and we will stand strong against those that only focus on fear tactics.

For the sake of our state and our country, we urge our fellow elected leaders and political candidates to drop the lies and focus on building a better future for New Mexico.

This column was written by several elected to New Mexico Legislature, includingSpeaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe), House Majority Leader Javier Martnez (D-Albuquerque), Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Albuquerque), Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Las Cruces) and Sen. Harold PopeJr. (D-Albuquerque)

Go here to read the rest:

Drop the lies and hate, focus on solutions for New Mexico - Las Cruces Sun-News

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