Brownsville also appalled at racist sign.

Byline: GUEST VIEWPOINT By David Clyne For The Register-Guard

Bob Welch, whose writings I normally enjoy, wrote in his March 26 column a follow-up story describing his outrage over the lack of response to an earlier column describing the abhorrent and obviously racist sign, `We must protect our borders' (with an arrow pointed at the neighboring Hispanic family home) posted on the home of a Brownsville family.

Welch then went on to write that the lack of response is akin to the lack of response to the Holocaust and the horror of Anne Frank's shortened life during World War II.

To those getting ready to load up the wagons with protesters and signs and head to oh-so-backwards little Brownsville, and to Welch, I have a suggestion. Take a deep breath. It's OK.

Yes, most of us here know that the sign is abhorrent and offensive. We are not fooled by the owner's lame protestations that the sign wasn't meant to be racist (otherwise, given the level of protest even in this far-flung community, he surely would have taken it down by now just to avoid further `misunderstand- ing').

No, to the contrary; there were protest letters to the editor, a disingenuous response from the sign-maker, and a letter from a friend of the Garcia family thanking the community for their support. Brownsville has indeed shown its heart to the Garcias.

So before anyone begins the parade down Oak Street, let me suggest something: Hatred, bigotry and racism are commonplace in America.

While the sign is open evidence of such base feelings and beliefs, I sincerely doubt that there are but a handful of communities in this country that don't have such narrow-minded members living in their midst. Certainly, Eugene must have more than a few. As a Jew from a family of Holocaust survivors (most of us), my family and I have seen that face of hatred.

The answer is not to push that hatred back into the dark places, but to expose it to the light of day. The answer is not to trample upon their rights to express their hateful points of view. No, the answer is to protect their right to it and respond with the simplest of messages - the truth.

The truth is that their message is bankrupt and has gained no currency among the rest of us. Far more important than extinguishing hate speech is making certain that haters have the same freedom to deliver their message as the rest of us to deliver a response.

It is for this reason that when the Nazis and skinheads first applied for a permit to march in Skokie, Ill., so many years ago, many among the Jewish community and the American Civil Liberties Union protected their right to do so publicly and in court. If in Anne Frank's day, freedom of speech had prevailed in Holocaust-stricken Europe instead of the abject fear to speak, the hate speech of the time could not have gained the currency it did.

So again, before people fill the streets of charming Brownsville with picketers and protesters, I would ask them first to reflect on why, in this day and age, the cultural norm for most of America is to withstand the language of bigotry and racism. The message cannot stand up to the light of day, because we allow it to be tested against such light.

If anyone still feels a need to stretch their legs and walk our streets, we ask that they please visit with us local yokels and shop in our stores. Visitors might wish to ride their bikes on this stretch of the Willamette Scenic Bikeway, drive the Over the Rivers - Through the Woods Scenic Byway, visit the historic Moyer House or see one of the great county museums anywhere.

While visitors actually can find an espresso here, I would discourage them from coming on a Sunday. We're still a little too small to open up on that day.

Oh, yeah - when you're marching, please keep the noise down. As Welch noted, we enjoy our peace and quiet here.

David Clyne is Brownsville's city administrator.