Your Turn

Tom Baldwin
Guest Column
Hurtful comments prove
intolerance is in Freehold

Your Turn Tom Baldwin Guest Column Hurtful comments prove intolerance is in Freehold

Tom Baldwin
Guest Column
Hurtful comments prove
intolerance is in Freehold

I heard this speech (Your Turn, News Transcript, Feb. 18) by Mr. (Herbert) Ward at a Borough Council meeting in Freehold Borough last month. I can’t believe that he would have this hateful speech published. This only proves to me that while he claims he is not a bigot, his speech proves to me that bigotry and intolerance of the Latino population among us is evident.

In his speech, he complains of people committing acts of public nuisances, horn blowing, and other activities that should not happen. I also agree that these activities should not take place, but he is asserting that all of the Latinos are guilty of this behavior, which is far from the truth.

The people that commit these acts should be reported, arrested and held accountable for their actions. No one, Latinos included, wants to see these illegal acts take place in their neighborhoods.

What else disturbs me about his speech is the assertion of the illegal activities taking place in the old muster zone; that the employers and the workers pay no taxes on their salaries.

I am sure that the workers would be glad to pay taxes and Social Security on their salaries. This has been done in other communities in our state by both the employer and worker filling out the required forms. It can be done here, also.

He and other folks in this town like to talk about the "quality of life" issue. Well does the quality of life mean that you have to hate someone that has come from another place? Do you have to hate your fellow man because they speak differently and [because] they are poor and are just trying to survive by working at jobs that the majority of Americans don’t want?

Does the quality of life in this town mean that you resent their children, who are Americans, going to our schools?

He says they pay no real estate taxes, true, but neither do the other people living here that are not homeowners, and we hear nothing about their children in our schools.

He fails to realize that every time something is bought in our stores, pharmacies, restaurants, gas stations, paper stores, cigarettes, tobacco, liquor, barber shops, beauty parlors and other businesses that there are taxes paid.

The thing that bothers me most about Mr. Ward’s hurtful speech is when he says, and I quote, "Go home. You are not wanted here, you are not needed here and you don’t belong here. It is warmer in Mexico."

How arrogant and mean can you get, Mr. Ward. I have to remind you, Mr. Ward, that everyone living in this city, in fact this country, that their ancestors came from a different place and for the very same reasons that the Latinos are coming here now.

I also submit to you that the vast majority of the European population came here with no documentation. To my fellow citizens of Freehold, remember, when you scapegoat a certain group of people, what makes you think that another group won’t receive the same treatment in the future? It has happened before and it can easily happen again.

Please, let us try to come together in this city as it has been done in other cities to find a solution. I also will add that there are other mayors and town councils in our area that have found solutions or are working to find solutions that do not take away people’s rights to gather to find work.

Tom Baldwin is a resident of Freehold Borough and a member of the Monmouth County Residents for Immigrants Rights.