To the Editor:

We all share the great fortune of living in Altamont — a village and community with a spirit that is not easy to find anymore. It is a place where we take time to know our neighbors. It is a place where we do not shut ourselves off from each other; instead, we feel collectively the joys and losses our community members are experiencing.

We are tremendously lucky to live in such a place.

However, we must not let our own good fortune blind us to the broader communities we also belong to: we are citizens of Albany County, citizens of New York State, citizens of the United States. What happens in our backyard seems more real to us than things that happen in downtown Albany, or New York City, or Minneapolis, but each of these places is still part of a community to which we all belong, just like our beloved Altamont.

Our own Altamont Facebook page has proven in recent days that we’re not disconnected from the rest of the world: Our community is experiencing the same deep fear and anxiety as so many others.

I applaud and commend those who were brave enough to speak up and propose positive, peaceful, safe, and productive ways to acknowledge the deep anger that so many of us feel at the horrendous and wrongful death of George Floyd. Yet, as our Facebook page demonstrated, social media has an unfortunate tendency to stoke our most basic instincts of fear, paranoia, and hasty judgment rather than our “better angels” of understanding, love, empathy, compromise, and critical thought.

I do not expect that to change overnight, but would simply ask that our community members spend some time simply thinking — not posting on Facebook, not watching cable news, but simply thinking — about a few items.

First, do our actions and words welcome, support, and recognize all members of the Altamont community?

Second, what are the opportunities and advantages that those of us who are white have that our black and brown neighbors do not have? (If it’s difficult to come up with something, consider what it would be like to live in fear of sending your son or daughter out for a walk or drive on their own.)

And finally, we are fortunate to live in a village with police who know us, who stop and talk to learn about our pets and kids, and who take time to support and help us. What might it be like if you did not feel that trust in our protectors?

Thinking about these questions may make you uncomfortable, but that’s not a bad thing — in fact, they should cause discomfort. Discomfort is what propels us toward improvement.

Fred Rogers (yes, that Fred Rogers) said that his mother told him: “In times of distress, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

These are troubling times for all of us in our community. Will we be helpers?

Keegan Prue

Altamont