Letter to the Editor: Could we learn to compromise?
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August 8, 2019
Editor,
I saw a wonderful movie the other night called The Best of Enemies. The setting is Durham, North Carolina and the year is 1971. When events transpire that make it imperative to integrate the schools, community tensions rise as the two sides of this issue lock into their positions on polar opposite ends of the spectrum. Leading one side is the local president of the Ku Klux Klan and the other is represented by an African American civil rights activist. One male, one female.
The relationship between these two people and all their followers on both sides is the heart of the story. It’s an impossible impasse and nobody wants to bend or budge an inch. Yet there’s a real, pressing problem to be solved. A mediator is brought in to assist and get the community to a resolution.
I found myself somewhere in the middle of the film thinking about our own little town and the harsh rhetoric and discord amongst us. I wondered if in a similar circumstance those of us who identify as Republican could sit down with those of us who call ourselves Democrat for the betterment of our community. What about a Tea Party-er and a Yellow Dog Democrat; a Blue Dog vs. a Yellow Dog, the old Sanders County Republicans and the new, a moderate and a radical?
Could you compromise? Would you? Would I?
The Best of Enemies is available to checkout at the Thompson Falls Public Library. I recommend it highly.
Arlene Mack, Thompson Falls
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