Tuesday evening, July 28, my husband and I attended a presentation hosted by Congressman Bill Foster at the auditorium on the Waubonsee Community College Sugar Grove campus.
The agenda for the evening comprised presentations by three groups: Illinois Civics Hub, Fair Vote and the League of Women Voters. Topics to be covered included a democracy/civics education program in public schools, rank choice voting and a general discussion about the history of voting rights in the past 250 years in the U.S.
There were probably 75-100 folks in the audience. Unfortunately, among the group, four people rose during the presentation – and at least one person at the Q&A session after the presentations – to disrupt the speakers and verbally attack Congressman Foster for his votes in the House of Representatives related to the situation in the Middle East and on gun control. The Congressman’s staff and the WCC public safety officers were able to remove the disrupters to applause from the crowd who supported their ejection from the room.
I was deeply shaken by this experience. This is the second time we have attended a public meeting convened by Congressman Foster where such a disruption has occurred. I have also watched a livestream of a similar meeting in Lake County that was disturbed by protesters who had to be removed from the premises before the meeting could continue.
I am fully aware that we’re living in a time of heightened disagreement and political polarization. There’s nothing particularly new about this: I was in college during the Vietnam War and remember campus “teach-ins” being disrupted in similar ways. But there was something different about last night’s experience that truly sent shivers up my spine. It was as if a demon had been released into the auditorium; the hate and vitriol being spewed by the protesters was really frightening.
I am not a naive individual. I worked in local and regional government for a career that spanned nearly 25 years. I’ve attended City Council meetings and County Board meetings where citizen speakers at the podium have expressed strong opinions and challenged elected officials. Nonetheless, there was something truly frightening about last night. When I regained my composure after exiting the meeting, all I could ask myself was, “Why would anyone run for public office and subject themselves to this kind of outrage and hate?”
So, I wanted to write to say “thank you” to Congressman Foster, his staff, the Waubonsee Community College officers and organizers, and the evening’s presenters for having the courage to get up in front of a crowd to educate us about our country, our system of government and ways in which we might foster improvement and progress. To the disrupters, I would say, “you are not what democracy looks like.”
Karen Fullett-Christensen, Aurora
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