OPINION: Chris Kelly Opinion: Scranton stands up against hate

Oct. 5—"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." — routinely misattributed to Edmund Burke, (1729-1797)

There is no evidence the revered Irish statesmen and philosopher ever wrote or spoke the above quote, but a few good men and women proved its truth at Tuesday's meeting of Scranton City Council.

Stirred to speak up by a bigot's racist, antisemitic ravings at last week's meeting, neighbors stood together to say loud, clear and for the record that hate has no home in Scranton.

Citing the supposed Burke quote, meeting mainstay Joan Hodowanitz said the bigot's stated desire to "round up all the illegals and put them into concentration camps" disgusted her as an American and a veteran.

"I spent 23 years in the Army protecting his First Amendment right to free speech," she said. "During that time I spent 6 1/2 years in Germany. I visited Dachau (concentration camp), and it was a most disturbing experience I'll never forget. And I can't imagine any rational person wanting to recreate that madness, for any reason whatsoever ..."

Joan said she agreed with Rabbi Daniel Swartz of Scranton, who in my last Sunday column urged pushing back against hateful speech.

"It must not go unanswered and we must speak out immediately," she said.

And speak Scranton did. I wish I had space to share all of the speakers' words. Please look up the meeting video on YouTube. Barb O'Malley, of the Hill Neighborhood Association, took direct aim at the bigot and forcefully defended her neighbors and her city.

"I am here because of what inaction on my part says about me as a member of this community," she said. "I cannot and will not be silent in the face of such venom. I cannot ignore or brush off his comments as the deranged rantings of a misinformed bigot. Hate speech must be denounced so people know that hateful speech is not reflective of my community ...

"I came here tonight to publicly say to (the bigot) and his ilk, your hate is not welcome here. Your hate has no home here."

The bigot was there. When his name was called, council chambers fell silent. He strode to the microphone and played the martyr card. The silence was broken by gasps and a few titters of shocked laughter when he began by saying, "I apologize to anyone who was offended by my inadvertent usage of 'concentration camps' last week. I meant to use 'internment camps.' "

Council President Kyle Donahue interjected the obvious, telling the bigot, "That's not any better."

It isn't, and that's all the ink I want to spend on the bigot today. I'd rather focus on the inspiring words spoken by Ushu Mukelo, a 27-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ushu stood up as an informal spokesman for Congolese refugees the bigot maligned as "lazy, useless and ungrateful."

"This situation reminds me of an African saying, 'If you want to kill a monkey, don't look at its eyes. You might think it's a human being,' " Ushu said. "The misinformed and hateful rancor without a doubt does not represent Scranton values. American values ..."

Ushu pointed out that the refugees are here legally, are working, paying taxes and starting businesses in a new country. Some who came before them are serving in the military, studying and teaching in our schools, volunteering in our churches and civic groups. They are striving to navigate a lengthy, complicated process to become American citizens. Writing them off as "lazy, useless and ungrateful" is not only hateful, but inaccurate and just plain wrong.

"No human being is useless," Ushu said. Not even the bigot, for whom Ushu gracefully wished a change of heart and mind.

"I hope he finds God's mercy to see us as useful people who came to this country with good intentions," Ushu said. "I hope the Holy Spirit of the Most High transforms him from having hate in his heart to someone that sees us as a positive people that are doing all they can to positively contribute to the well-being of this city, the county, the state and the union."

Ushu received a standing ovation from his neighbors. The bigot, still seated, disappeared behind the crowd.

CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, is proud to call Ushu Mukelo a fellow American. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/Kelly. Contact the writer: kellysworld@timesshamrock.com; @cjkink on Twitter; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook.