I was surprised and disappointed to see that you published the letter titled ‘The Fall of a Country’ in the October 12 edition of the Wallkill Valley Times.

The United Nations describes hate speech as “offensive discourse targeting a group or an individual based on inherent characteristics (such as race, religion or gender) and that may threaten social peace”

The text of the letter equates immigrants with disease and criminals. Somehow the fact that immigrants may have more than two children is also cause for alarm - and that we should begin blaming traffic issues on immigrants as well.

The letter states “The country is ripe for a revolution and has been a long time coming.”

The letter certainly meets the UN’s description of hate speech by targeting immigrants (in this case, people who are not white) and threatening revolution which is a clear threat to social peace.

If the letter writer is concerned about public health, safety and traffic issues, there are certainly productive ways to address those concerns. Blaming immigrants is nonsensical. Stoking fear solves nothing.

I urge the editors of this paper to exercise more caution when publishing letters. The paper can work with letter writers to steer them away from dangerous and hateful language. It is vital we all feel empowered exercising our first amendment rights of free speech whether to express opinions about political parties or the policies they sort forth - but that shouldn’t extend to disparaging racial classes and conveying barely veiled threats of violence.