A Message From Deerfield Mayor Shapiro: Stop The Violence

Press release from the Village of Deerfield:

April 14, 2023

It is time that we stop the hatred, the unnecessary violence and the overheated rhetoric. It is time to call out the evils of intolerance and consider good over guns, kindness over killings and civility over criminality. Giving cover to those who want an excuse to harm our kids, our community and our residents must end. The racist, antisemitic rants serve no purpose other than to energize more unnecessary killings, threats and vitriolic behavior.

According to the FBI, more than half of religious hate crimes in America in 2021 targeted Jews and were motivated by antisemitism. The Anti-Defamation League similarly found that in 2022, antisemitic incidents in America reached their highest levels on record since it started tracking incidents more than 40 years ago. Hate must not have any space for harbor.

We cannot have more mass murders than there are days of the year, nor can we turn a blind eye to outrageous acts of violence, discrimination and antisemitism. We cannot each week see children’s lives gunned down in their classrooms, swastikas spray painted in our communities or people treated with disdain because of their gender, sexual orientation or color of their skin. It is harmful to who we are, to the soul of our communities and to our next generations.

Call out the hatred and stop these most challenging days where we seem to have daily newscasts about unnecessary loss of lives or acts of evil. I am confident that from moments of darkness we will find joy and hope and light. I am convinced that rather than act in ways which drive us apart, we must see each other as we should as fellow human beings. Hug your kids, tell them you love them. Call your parents, reach out to a friend you have not talked to in a while. Courage and decency are contagious, and hope will take a life of its own.

This press release was produced by the Village of Deerfield. The views expressed here are the author’s own.