I am writing to add another voice to the conversation surrounding the racist, xenophobic literature distributed earlier this week by the KKK.
This event was of course shocking, but shouldn’t surprise anyone given the steady increase of reported hate speech in the U.S. and the overarching tone of the federal government in 2025. This was not an isolated event even in BG. Although it was certainly the most public, at least one similar occurrence has already been reported with little coverage in the interest of denying the perpetrators the outrage they so obviously crave.
What baffles me more than anything has been the response from local Trump supporters, elected or otherwise, expressing shock and outrage about what happened. This tired ideology is far more palatable when expressed under dog whistles like “CRT” or more recently “DEI.” These crocodile tears weren’t shed when breathlessly supporting mass deportations carried out by an administration endorsed by the KKK.
All of this should serve to motivate voters who are sick to our stomachs over this current state of affairs. Bowling Green is not so small a town that we are isolated from the larger conversation about diversity that’s happening across the country and not so large that our votes are lost in local politics. 2025 is an election year and it absolutely matters. The worst people are emboldened right now — we should be too.
I promise that the same people who espouse these ideas in whatever form they take, including the people who distributed those disgusting flyers, will be voting this year. It is absolutely critical we remind them that they are outnumbered.
Audrey Baker
Bowling Green
