Quote:
Originally Posted by oranginauk
I had heard of The Villages, America’s Friendliest Hometown. With wonderful homes and great facilities and activities. Surely a place to make new friends, to smile, laugh and enjoy. A retirement I always dreamed of. So I checked it out and moved here four years ago.
As a single woman of color, I felt safe. I have made friends, joined in activities, volunteered and indeed I felt safe in America’s Friendliest Hometown. Then it happened, one group against the other. Videos going viral, a man yelling “white power”, faces and voices full of hate. I began to question .... Has this incident invited white supremacists to The Villages? People seek out to live where there are like minded people.
The country is frantic now and I am afraid. All it takes is a single fuse to light a fire. I urge you to think before you speak.
Please do not destroy “ America’s Friendliest Hometown”. Please help me feel safe again.
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I hope you feel comfortable enough to express your concerns to the friends you have made here. I have no doubt that if your friends know how you feel, they would show their support and have your back. I believe that 99.999% of people are against White Supremacy, this includes folks here in The Villages too.
As a single woman of color, you are a minority in The Villages on several levels, and its understandable why you might have concerns. But please rest assured the only minority most of us want to feel uncomfortable living here or anywhere are White Supremacists.
Unfortunately the Coronavirus has amplified peoples feelings of being vulnerable and isolated, and has most of us all feeling afraid for various reasons. I am with you regarding your statement "The country is frantic now and I am afraid" as I don't do chaos well. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot of people, with various points of views (on sooo many subjects right now) that are having difficulty expressing those views in a civil way. Seeing it happen in our "Bubble" is disappointing and feels just too close to home. We can do better than this and we all have to try.
I am glad you chose The Villages as a place live, it truly is a wonderful place to be! It is one of the safer places to live during our senior years and we are a community where folks can count on each other for support, especially in times of need.
If some reason you continue to experience these concerns please don't be afraid to let us, your friends, your neighbors know since it is important that in addition to being safe that we need to also feel safe.