“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Strength to Love
Statement from the Darien Republican Town Committee:
A recent act of vandalism at our town’s high school has once again raised the issue of intolerance in our community. The Darien Republican Town Committee vehemently condemns all expressions and acts of hate and intolerance. Nobody in our close-knit community should ever be made to feel unwelcome, unsupported or scared. And when it comes to our children, we feel even more strongly.
The inexcusable acts of a few should not be ignored, nor should they be extrapolated into an indictment of all students or our community at large. As upsetting as this incident has been to so many of us, we urge all Darien residents to choose calm discussion over recriminations; to seek understanding rather than make pronouncements or presumptions about motives or intent. Those who have been hurt or frightened by incidents like this, we stand with you. You are our friends, our neighbors, our children or our loved ones. But let us also remember that the perpetrators of this and other such incidents are likely children. Let us not trample on their young souls. Hate cannot drive out hate.
While we are an existentially political organization, we are first and foremost an organization of Darien residents, like you, who love our town and its people. We understand that hate and intolerance do exist in the world, and we know that ignorance is most often the root cause. We also know that Darien has evolved over the years and is continuing to do so. Our town is overwhelmingly populated with good, thoughtful and caring people who have rejected intolerance and helped others do the same. Let us all continue that important work together.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
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