Shootings and white supremacists make us feel unsafe, very frightened

At the same time I was enjoying my Fourth of July by running the 54^th annual Arnold Mills Four Mile Race in Cumberland, R.I., a gunman --- it’d be hyperbole to call him a “crazed” gunman --- was the latest person to use an automatic weapon to turn a public venue into a shooting gallery, killing seven and wounding more than three dozen during a parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Ill.
Thankfully, the event I was in, as well as the annual parade that follows that more-than-half-the-century July 4^th tradition, was completely peaceful and free of any such heinous crime, but for how long?
How long will people be able to attend public events and feel safe from being killed or wounded by yet another deranged individual who can --- thanks to the Supreme Court --- practically carry and buy weapons anytime they want to because a majority of Congress is being paid off by the National Rifle Association to not reinstate the automatic weapons ban?
How long will we feel free to attend Major League baseball games in the summer or minor leagues ones, for that matter without fear of being shot or harassed by a national empowerment to attack people without fear of retribution, thanks to the current toxic environment of our nation?
How much longer will we feel safe to go shopping at our downtowns, or to assemble – as thousands do every year at the Esplanade in Boston --- to celebrate our nation’s heritage with music and fireworks?
That’s not to say that we’re quite at that point yet where we have to live in fear, but we’re definitely moving much closer to that point every day.
Between the rapidly escalating incidents of gun violence and the now almost-everyday occurrences of white supremacists spreading hate, bigotry, lies and terrorism aimed at Black Americans, Asian Americans, Jews, Muslims and basically anyone not a white “American,” we’re all increasingly at risk of living in a society that’s rapidly descending into chaos a little more each day.
The impromptu march through Boston on the afternoon of Saturday, July 2 by the Patriot Front --- a right-wing white supremacist group whose members are chillingly reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan of the South from 100 and even 60, 50 and 40 years ago --- was chilling and downright scary.
Moreover, the march was enough to keep people of color as well as Jews frightened beyond belief, and to consider staying away from Boston!
Jews are unfortunately all too used to being targeted by neo-Nazis; such events as last weekend's march evoke memories of the Holocaust --- and I say that as someone who is named for one of the 6 million-plus Jews slaughtered by the Germans in the Holocaust.
The bottom line is that minorities no longer can feel safe in a country where white supremacy is on the rise, and is being endorsed by the right wing, the former president and the millions who still support him despite his role in what amounted to an attempted coup on Jan. 6, 2021.