Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
By Keith McCarte
I have traveled around the world to at least 27 different countries. I have actually lived in 4 different countries for extended periods of time. I must say, that since before December 2, 2015, San Bernardino has had the highest per capita number of people who loved and cared for their community than any other place I have been. A close second is Basel, Switzerland where most people speak at least four languages. In Basil, they learn and study the language of culture. Whereas here in San Bernardino we live, eat and breathe culture on a daily basis.
With this cultural aspect comes several groups of people who feel very strongly about how to better their community. We have battled issues such as homelessness, education, employment and economic bolstering during a sagging global economy. Even though each sect of the community has varying opinions as to how to better our community, each group is intensely motivated to make our community better as a whole and they do so by having a common respect for parallel or opposing opinions.
This is the reason I rank the citizens of San Bernardino number one when it comes to love and care for their community.
Now we have been saddled with a calamity of the first order-the horrific shooting incident of December 2, 2015. San Bernardino has not been weakened. On the contrary, we have become stronger and will continue to become even stronger.
We continue to love and care for our community but now we do so with one voice. Now our voice resonates beyond city boundaries. It now resonates nationally and internationally. The whole world is watching and we have stepped up to the plate to become leaders as a city and as a community. We have shown the world a good example of having love and respect for each other, love and respect for the victims and love and respect for our country. Have you noticed that our leaders and the citizens within has focused on expressing love and condolences, opposed to the alternative? We are no longer, Black, White, Latino, African American, Mexican or Asian. We are San Bernadinians. We are no longer conservative or liberal, we are San Bernardinians first and foremost.
Out of respect for the victims who have lost their lives, were injured or traumatized we must hold dear to our core values and continue to speak these values to the world as one voice. We will speak as San Bernardinians. We must become even closer to our neighbors and friends. This closeness is not for the purpose of spying on their lives but for the purposes of showing our love and support to each other in times of need. Let us continue to set good examples in our everyday lives. Remember…we are San Bernardinians and we speak as one voice.
