Carlos Cardona: Reconsidering his own biases and some cultural blind spots

To The Daily Sun,

It was an honor and a privilege to participate in the recent community discussion “Listening Across the Divide: Building Bridges or Walls?” hosted by The Laconia Daily Sun, Senator Harold French and Mayor Andrew Hosmer. I hope the hosts continue this series and we can continue to have a community dialogue on important issues.  

During the panel discussion I was asked about my use of a derogatory term to characterize someone who had addressed me in a demeaning manner.  When this was brought to my attention I was initially defensive. I felt my language was justified as I was defending myself and trading insult for insult. and felt my language didn’t rise to the level of a racial epithet. What I now realize is the term  I used (redneck) is offensive to some in our community.  I know better than to use a demeaning term and it’s not justified because of the circumstances I found myself in. It’s contradictory to my desire for a more tolerant and inclusive community that values all persons. For this I am truly sorry. I now know better and I commit to being better.

What I’ve learned from this experience is that growth is hard and requires self-reflection. As a minority I know the pain of prejudice. I know how challenging it can be to engage with people who are either blatantly prejudice or who don’t see how insidious and pervasive systemic prejudice can be. The value of last week’s community discussion is it pushed me to lean in on tough issues, reconsider my own biases, expose some cultural blind spots I may have and ultimately improve how I interact with others.  I thought I was primarily helping others to understand and now I realize I was learning, as much as teaching.

As Rep. Hough’s letter made clear – I’m a proud Latino, gay Democrat!  I’m also a proud father who has a deep sense of responsibility to teach my children through my actions.  Angry letters to the editor or emails criticizing me will not dissuade me from passionately advocating for my beliefs. But, I’m also a humble, imperfect human who accepts the challenge to improve myself as I work to improve our community. I hope as our community continues to heal, Rep. Hough will avail himself of the opportunity  - and the challenges – that come with leadership and participate in future discussions.

Carlos Cardona

Laconia