NORTH CENTER — In a break from his standard weekly email newsletter format, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th) penned a personal note to constituents in reaction to Tuesday's election results.
As a first-generation American, Pawar said he and his wife Charna, whose family includes Holocaust survivors and refugees, were "offended and horrified" by a campaign that "devolved into denigrating and casting refugees and immigrants as weak, drains on our government, and people to be feared," the alderman wrote.
"I do feel that the level of our discourse has been cheapened by social media and other platforms where people and politicians seek immediate responses and appeal to and act on one another's most base instincts," Pawar wrote.
"So my office is going to take a break from the echo chamber that is social media and find better ways to engage and promote rational public discourse," he said.
The break might be permanent, Pawar told DNAinfo.
Clarifying his intent, Pawar said Facebook and Twitter are "just not useful anymore because we're either all talking to people who agree with everything we say or yelling at and trolling one another."
He will continue to communicate with constituents via email and his newsletter, in addition to personal conversations, he said.
In his letter, the alderman encouraged his constituents to volunteer with or make a financial contribution to organizations "that do the hard work of protecting American values and serving our neighbors in need."
Read the full letter:
Ald. Pawar Letter To Constituents by DNAinfo Chicago on Scribd
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