Winchendon is a relatively sheltered community. Tucked into the shadow of Mount Monadnock, rich with natural beauty, farms and gardens, we're ten miles away from the nearest divided highway. Many of our residents seldom leave town, simply because they don't have transportation. Many others work here, or close by. One recent benefit we've seen from this isolation is the low numbers of COVID-19 cases affecting our town.

But we're not immune to other diseases that afflict American culture, even though some people here try to close their eyes and deny it.

Like the rest of America, we've been watching the protests and turmoil that has exploded in many American cities since the murder of black American George Floyd at the hands (and knees) of police in Minneapolis.

Not all the protests have devolved into violence, vandalism and looting--in fact, most of them have not. There is very strong evidence that the vast majority of the violence and destruction has been performed by right-wing militias and neo-Nazis trying to start what they call "the boogaloo," a massive civil war that will bring down the government. The looting has mostly been carried out by white criminals taking advantage of the chaos to break into stores--getaway car waiting at the curb--and grab everything they can, knowing the protesters will be blamed.

In an earlier era, protests were hijacked in a similar way, but in our age of ubiquitous surveillance cameras and cell phone video, it's easy to prove who is really behind the mayhem.

Just as the anti-war and civil rights protests of the 1960s were falsely blamed on "communist" agitators by conservatives, in 2020 conservatives are scapegoating "antifa" for the violence. Media insights company Zignal Labs calls the idea that "antifa" have anything to do with the protests at all as "the biggest piece of protest misinformation" they're tracking.

Protests have been organized in Gardner and Fitchburg, but none so far in Winchendon. When a question about a Winchendon march or protest rally was raised on Facebook, some of the responses showed exactly why Winchendon needs one.

"We don’t need one here. This is a small town. I say leave it alone. We’ve got enough going on. We don’t need anymore," one person wrote. "go somewhere else and protest. Move along." Another resident said, "if someone is setting a protest up then be aware of the reprocussions that come with it, less fortunate just may be taking their way, fires, robbery.... im all for protesting but be aware of WHO will join and ruin names in the protest along the way."

Others objected to the protests not following social distancing guidelines. (The large number of Winchendon residents who scorn face masks in public would suggest that Winchendon isn't too worried about COVID precautions in general.) And other residents weighed in with typical conservative falsehoods, such as,"They are shipping people in they did in Fitchburg as far away as New York and they are being paid to protest" (firmly denied by people who were at the Fitchburg protest).

To our credit as a town, many more people argued against these statements than agreed with them (and were rewarded by being called "virtue-signaling communists" by an especially extreme person in the discussion). Whether a protest or rally will be held here remains to be seen.

Social disruption is alarming, and it can be scary. Blaming it on scapegoats is one way of managing fear. But we're kidding ourselves if we think racism, hatred and bigotry are not present in our overwhelmingly white town. Rather than "shooting the messenger" when progressive and aware Toy Towners bring up the problems, we should examine what we need to confront and change. Another discussion on Facebook recently asked why Winchendon has so little diversity. The people opposing a rally here in support of black Americans give us a partial answer to that question.

Is this really what we want Winchendon to be? I feel confident in saying that for the vast majority of Winchendon residents, the answer is "no."

Inanna Arthen