I am ashamed at what has been happening in our nation
lately, disregard for human life, property and safety.
 
I am ashamed at being born white, living in an affluent
community, attending a proper New England boarding school,
attending an Ivy League University.
 
I am ashamed, as a child of the 50s, that my father had a
black yard man he called “boy,” our neighbors had a
black maid who lived in their attic and I thought nothing of it.
 
I am ashamed that at school every morning I recited
the Pledge of Allegiance ending with “liberty and justice for all”
and believed it to be so.
 
I am ashamed that we have lost respect and are
looked down upon in the world.
 
How will this all end?
 
Not well, if we don’t turn things around.
 
We must be united in restoring respect for others
and the practice of liberty and justice for all.
 
— Miriam Hardy
Middlebury