Xenophobia

The India Palace restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was vandalized on the night of June 21. "Destroyed" is a more appropriate word since the damage is estimated to be well over $100,000. Material destruction apart, every available surface was covered with messages of hate: White Power, I Hate *expletive*, Go Back to quote a few. As if there was any doubt about the identity of the perpetrators, there was also "Trump 2020". That this restaurant is owned by a Sikh family and has been in Santa Fe for over 30 years did not seem to matter to the vandals who also expressed their hatred of Islam. The distinction is wasted on them. As is usually the case, these are equal opportunity haters. It could as well have been a Chinese, Hispanic, middle-eastern or other ethnic (non-white) establishment. A century ago it could have been Irish, Italian or Jewish. Against the backdrop of killings by police and other atrocities all over the country this incident does not rate high in the news. But I think it deserves some attention for having taken place in the relatively laid-back capital of a relatively small (population-wise) state. How many such crimes are committed without drawing the kind of press a murder or ensuing large protest generates? The fact is, xenophobia (irrational fear of the "other") is ubiquitous and has always been part of human society. Like a recessive genetic trait it manifests itself under certain conditions and can wreak havoc on the body politic if ignored or unchallenged. The obvious "condition" in this case is the top of the Republican ticket in the upcoming election. Our president has fanned the fears of these people to win and try to hold on to an Electoral College majority. The rest of the Republican ticket cannot duck their responsibility in this regard. By the way, has anyone heard a Republican invoke "family values" recently. It seems even they are not so brazen as to count hatred as a family value. There was righteous indignation in 2016 when Secretary Clinton referred to some of Trump's supporters as a "basket of deplorables". As it turns out no basket is big enough to hold the deplorables enabling and supporting Donald Trump. The list of their transgressions is too long to be detailed here and too familiar to those paying attention to need repetition. Fortunately, in a democracy the remedy is the ballot box. No reasonable person eligible to vote can sit out the election this November.