Montanans are good neighbors. On snowy mornings, we shovel each other. Bountiful harvests mean shared produce and canned goods. We respect fences as much as we revere open spaces. We take advantage of our time on moving days and cheer on each other’s kids on Friday nights. It’s not about who you love or where you’ve been, it’s about whether you’re coming to dinner.
Yet every election year, politicians use cheap tactics and lies to pit us against each other. Instead of good faith attempts to earn our votes, they exploit our fears of making ends meet with xenophobic, anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and anti-Indigenous stereotypes, and this election cycle is no different.
Politicians will try to measure a Highlander by the height of his fence, but we know that what matters is the length of his table. These tactics degrade our democracy and distract from conversations about tangible solutions to address issues affecting our families, such as access to quality health care, affordable housing, and equitable tax policies.
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As Montanans, it is our responsibility to call these tactics what they are: fear-mongering and intimidation. They bet our safety, our relationships, and our way of life on a check mark on a Tuesday in November. But we are the ones who have to live with the consequences on Wednesday morning.
It is for these reasons that the Montana Human Rights Network launched the Good Neighbor Project. This project is meant to remind us that when our politicians don’t show up for our neighbors and our families, we show up for each other.
We know that there is plenty of room under the Big Sky for everyone, no matter where they come from, how they live, or who they love. And we will not tolerate politicians trying to change Montana with their made-up culture wars and divisive political rhetoric. We invite our friends and neighbors to take action and learn more at mhrn.org/resources/introduciendo-the-good-neighbor-project.
Niki Zupanic
Niki Zupanic is interim executive director of the Montana Human Rights Network, which empowers Montanans to dismantle discrimination and build justice, equality and solidarity in their communities. She practices law in Helena.
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