I stood on a corner, with a sign and our flag and was greeted by obscenities, jeers and taunts. How sad that some are still subjected to such fear and hate even in their daily lives – so I stood.

How wrong that some people still wish to divide us – so I stood.

A group of haters would change the Constitution to discriminate against the few. Discrimination has never been written into our Constitution before – so I stood.

Millions were spent to spread lies and distortions, to illicit that fearful, knee-jerk reaction that we are prone to – and it works – so I stood.

Sometimes we forget, but we Americans know another knee-jerk reaction:

In the face of injustice – we stand

against discrimination – we stand

tyranny of the majority – we stand

or of the powerful few – we stand

against lies and distortions – we stand

against terrorist and threats to our liberties – we stand.

And as good people of all faiths do – in the face of hate – we stand for love. For he who would diminish the least of us – diminishes us all.

So stand up, Americans, and stand up you good people of faith and those without faith stand, too. We are Americans. Never let hate divide us again. Stand Up!

Tim Williams is a proud American who lives in Clearlake.

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