Lacey Council must rebuke Hearn for anti-Islamic writings

During 41 years of living in Lacey I have never heard of a Lacey City Council member saying anything so ignorant and mean-spirited as the anti-Islamic messages Jason Hearn posted on Facebook. In response, 50 people attended a recent council meeting, many of us spoke publicly against his cruel messages, and nobody defended them.

Jason Hearn might have thought that posting his anti-Islamic messages on Facebook was a private matter. But Facebook is quite public, and his mean-spirited writings reflect directly on the City Council.

When an employer allows racist or sexist behavior or hate speech to pollute the working environment, the law says that the employer has created “a hostile work environment.” Likewise, Jason Hearn’s anti-Islamic opinions created “a hostile civic environment.”

When politicians spout hatred for minorities, some mentally unstable people feel they have permission to commit hate crimes. Decent people – especially elected officials – have strong responsibilities to explicitly rebuke hate speech.

Only Virgil Clarkson and Andy Ryder have publicly criticized Hearn’s behavior. To restore civility, the entire Lacey City Council must formally, explicitly rebuke Jason Hearn’s behavior and affirm respect for all religions and demographic groups.

An elected official cannot effectively represent people for whom he feels contempt. Jason Hearn should resign from the Lacey City Council.

His belated apology for hurting local people falls short, because he has not said that he no longer believes the hateful things he had publicized.

All people are one human family! We’re all in this together!

This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 8:36 AM with the headline "Lacey Council must rebuke Hearn for anti-Islamic writings."