By Jeff Rohwer Santa Monica
I’ve read many of the accusations and angry statements made on both sides of the controversy surrounding Oscar de la Torre’s visit to Santa Monica High School. Intelligent people can agree to disagree on either side of this issue and the issues certainly are complex. A quiet and humble reminder to you all — we are all members of this community.
As long as we choose to fight against one another, we all lose. As long as we choose to point the finger at the other and say it’s their fault, we lose. As long as we choose to write one another off as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution, we all lose.
As soon as we learn to reach out to one another, no matter how hard that is to do, and extend a hand in friendship, we all win. As soon as we choose to reach out and include our neighbors (and I mean all of our neighbors from Montana to Pico) in the process of healing racial and economic struggles, we win. As soon as we learn to close our mouths, push aside our preconceived ideas about one another, and truly listen to one another, we win.
If we stop and listen to one another, I think we’ll find that we all have many common goals and ideals. Let’s work together to build on what we have in common. If we, the adults in the community, can model this for our children, think about the message that would send to the children in this community of ours. Think about how things might look today at Samohi if we had always done this.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 28, 2005. Read the original PDF.