Writers cry out for some unity

To the editor:

The Kingsbridge Library Writer’s Group meets weekly, these days via Zoom.

Our writing prompt recently was the single word “unity.” We are a group of writers who live here in the Northwest Bronx. The word prompt elicited our hopes for a better day as well as our very real anxieties about the future of our nation.

Here are my musings on the subject, but there were many along the same lines:

Unity. It’s a lovely word, but it’s not a reflection of our current reality. It is the antithesis of the malignant condition that confronts our nation.

Not so long ago, things were different. Even folks who didn’t think much of one another were able to join together — albeit reluctantly — to defeat true evil. They called it the “United Front Against Fascism.” For a while, at least, it seemed to be fundamentally working.

Today, white boys all over America swig beer while hoisting the Nazi flag. They call themselves “proud Americans.” Our commander-in-chief cheers them on and shouts “America first.” It sends a chill down the spines of those of us who remember where that phrase originated.

It was coined by homegrown American Nazis in the 1930s. They favored Hitler and argued for American isolationism. We want desperately to shake some sense into these particular current-day beer guzzlers. We want to yell, “Hey, don’t you know we fought a war about this?”

Sadly, they can’t hear us anymore. They are bloated with the lies and hubris of their leader. He is the occupant of the White House. He and those who are complicit offer only hate.

Democracy hangs ever more tenuously in the balance. We hold our breath. Arms linked, we chant “unity” — maybe one last time.

Please vote and resist.

Silvia Blumenfeld

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