To the editor: A nation of immigrants should stand against hate

On Sunday, Nov. 20, I stopped to get gas at the Chester Citgo. On the back window of the pick-up truck parked in front of me were large letters in the shape of a map of the United States that spelled out: “F**k off/We’re full.”

I immediately thought of my immigrant great-grandparents, of how hard they worked and how much discrimination they faced. Their story has been played out from generation to generation, right up to today. I wondered if the truck owner was 100 percent Native American, because otherwise his family came to this country as immigrants too. I also thought of how disrespectful this message is to this great nation, which is nothing if not a nation of immigrants. There is a reason why the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of our country.

I have nothing against someone expressing his or her opinion, even if it is a hateful one, as this one is. But hate must be answered back.

I find the message on this truck an insult to the sacrifices of my great-grandparents, an insult to the sacrifices made by the immigrants of today, and insult to our nation. Loving this wonderful country means cherishing the diversity it contains.

I don’t know how we, as a community, can answer hate speech like this, but I hope we will.

Madeline Bodin
Andover