A Difference of Opinion - Is that Bigotry?

The Community Relations Board is a City Board derived from the perception of a few Commissioners that were convinced that powerless people needed a voice. It was put in place to protect those who are poor, helpless, homeless, disenfranchised or those who have recently immigrated here that have no legal standing. It was to keep the Sheriff in check. Cara Jennings gave all God’s children what she felt they deserved.

I attended The CRB meeting last night mainly because Austin Brookley, Intern to Mayor Varela, was on the Agenda to give a presentation. The presentation, as it turned out, was given last month. It is called Volunteer Lake Worth and it will involve getting churches and neighborhoods involved and helping the less fortunate (most of us are in this category) in Lake Worth. They will be mentoring youth and implementing other initiatives.

But the most interesting thing was the last thing on the Agenda—Panagioti Tsolkas’ e-mail to Susan Stanton asking her to copy it to the Community Relations Board. His charge? “There is an anti-immigrant presence in this town which can and should be addressed openly through this board, as its mission statement suggests it is intended to do.” He wants the Board to understand and address “anti-immigrant bigotry and its relation to organized hate groups and racial violence.” To me, this charge is totally questionable especially when it involves Lake Worth but he is entitled to his opinion.

First of all, we have NO one in this City against immigration. If there is one, name him/her. We have people against ILLEGAL immigration. We might have a few bigots. If we do, you can count them on one hand. As far as “hate groups,” that is all subjective. FAIR is not a hate group as previously charged by Panagioti and friends during the Scott Maxwell campaign. Some of these organizations will attract some people who hate but this does not make them racist groups. He talks about racial violence. We have no racial violence. What we do have is crime and a lot of it stems from immigrant gangs with some of the members here illegally and who never respected any American law to begin with.

Panagioti wants us all to believe as he does—every person has inalienable rights and no one should dare take an opposite view. The problem here is that our views ARE contingent upon laws and they are culturally and politically relative.

Illegal immigration has nothing to do with the color of one’s skin. It is an illegal and criminal act and the City of Lake Worth needs to take a stand against it and uphold the laws of the United States.

Having a different opinion is the American way but a bigot is someone who irrationally and obstinately has no tolerance for anyone who believes differently and in this case, someone who has no respect for all of us who believe that federal law must be implemented when it comes to illegal immigration.