To the editor:

It’s hard to object to a protest against brutality, of whatever sort. But the characterization of Tupper Lake as “a widely racist town” and a horrifying contrast to the more “progressive” locales nearby, which you quote (June 9) one of the organizers of the recent protest as making, is harsh and unfair enough that some defense of my adopted town seems in order. After a lifetime in those more “progressive” places, I have lived here three years. Yes, I am white, so I can have no clue, etc., and bad attitudes can surface anywhere; but even so, I have to say, widespread racism is not what I’ve seen.

What I have seen is interracial couples and multi-ethnic families attending church on Sundays with no hint of anything but welcoming acceptance. What else I’ve seen is overwhelming generosity and caring, with volunteers stepping forward to help neighbors or those in need, whether in ongoing, organized activities like our food pantry, impromptu efforts such as a chicken dinner to benefit someone in trouble, or such informal, unsung actions as giving a sick neighbor a ride to medical treatment. More generally, I see a small-town friendliness that long ago disappeared in the “progressive” world I knew.

It’s a mistake to vilify those different from us, or who don’t see the world just as we do. Sometimes the portrayal of the Adirondacks in the news seems to carry the implication that the population here is so heavily white, there MUST be something wrong with us. Isn’t that sort of a reverse sort of racism?

Joseph Kimpflen

Tupper Lake