"Our island community" An opinion

By Nancy Dickson

February 9, 2017 9:00 a.m.

We are a small island of neighbors. We do not agree about everything, especially politics right now, but most of us live, work, and play in close proximity to one another. We share schools, shops, and churches. We love our beaches, our greenway, and our parks.

Recent political events, however, have caused a rift in our social and economic fiber. I hear of people, neighbors and friends, who are suddenly out of work because they don’t support the right political party. I have talked to people who fear to speak out about their concerns and beliefs for fear of losing their jobs. I have been shunned by folks I thought were – if not friends, at least good acquaintances.

Our island is small. If we create two camps (armed or not), of “them” and “us,” we will all suffer. We are faced with a moral and economic choice here. Do employers really want to have neighbors suddenly unemployed because they don’t agree politically? Do folks really want to see a line in the sand with camps of us and them? We, as a small community, have an opportunity to choose; will we be vindictive or agree to disagree? Will we choose to coexist or drive the wedge of political partisanship deeper into our fiber?

We all share needs, wants, and dreams for ourselves and our families (although we don’t always agree on the best way to achieve them). We have shown, though our commitment to volunteerism and philanthropy, that we do care about one another.

In the recent past, we have come together to build a new library, a new humane society facility, and are working to build a new Council on Aging building. We support our children through the Boys and Girls club; the less fortunate, through Barnabas; abused women, through Micah’s Place; and many more groups – religious and lay – work together for the common good. Folks from all sides of the political spectrum came together to make these wonderful things a reality for our small island.

Today, as emotions and feelings run high, individual decisions about how to treat those around us (neighbors, employees, acquaintances and friends) can make our island a strong community or turn it into a fractured society, unpleasant and unworkable because it is filled with hate and fear. My hope is that we can agree to disagree and become, once again, a vibrant, argumentative, accepting, and tolerant community.

Editor's Note: Nancy Dickson moved to our island community in 2008.  She holds a PhD in English, and an MA in Urban Planning.  She served as a union organizer, civil rights activist, co-organizer of the Downtown Peace Coalition in San Francisco,  La Leche League Leader, and is the mother of two, and grandmother of three. We thank Nancy for her contribution to the Fernandina Observer.