EDITOR:

The county board did not support the UPAAA implementation plan from UPCAP because of DEI. The resolution failed to gain traction by a score of 3 to 2. The resolution was symbolic and not at all tied to funding. The county board’s decision will not cost UPCAP any money.

Unfortunately, if you disagree with liberal orthodoxy, you’re labeled a racist, sexist, homophobe, or xenophobe, We are none of the four.

It is easy for us to say we support UPCAP because of the things that the organization does for our community. We both support the Upper Peninsula Commission on Area Progress, but We do not support DEI.

We do not believe there is systemic racism in the United States anymore. Actor Morgan Freeman shares that opinion. Don’t get us wrong we didn’t say there isn’t racism. We just don’t believe it’s systemic, and we don’t believe that “protected classes” should be given preference over other ethnicities in terms of hiring, or education. There is no place for racist activity in a civilized society. Therefore, calling somebody a racist simply because you disagree with them cheapens the struggles that many minorities have had to go through to get where we currently are as a country.

By now in the Daily Press you have seen people call us racists, and encourage you to sign our recall petition, because of our racist actions. It would’ve been far easier for us to just come along to get along, and simply sign a resolution that had a passive acceptance clause in it anyway. But that’s not the way we do our business. What we find alarming, is the fact that if you disagree with anybody on the left, automatically you’re a racist. History will repeat itself if we are not aware of the potential pitfalls of not having the ability to speak our opinions without fear of repercussion or intimidation. The Bolshevik revolution, and the brown shirts of Nazi Germany come to mind immediately.

We may not agree with the other members of the county commission from time to time, but we don’t know anybody on our board that’s racist, or sexist, or homophobe, or xenophobe.

The politics of personal destruction have come to Delta County, DEI can have the effect of reverse racism, regardless of how well intended it may have been. Equity does not mean equality. Until we demonstrate the ability to disagree agreeably, and stop the politics of personal destruction, this country is in for a rough time of it.

David Moyle

Bob Peterson

Delta County

Commissioners