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<p>SWOYERSVILLE &#8212; It was a pleasant evening for an event about an unpleasant topic.</p><p>Mayor Chris Concert decided sponsored a candlelight vigil Sunday to drive the evil Ku Klux Klan out of his town. It was a success to the extent that about 100 people came out in support of the mayor&#8217;s cause.</p><p>The crowd gathered, chatted and listened as Concert talked about standing up against evil, about not tolerating hatred in his town and reminding all they live in the Valley With A Heart, not hatred.</p><p>Give the mayor credit. KKK flyers have been popping up throughout Wyoming Valley &#8212; Swoyersville, Wilkes-Barre, Mountain Top, Kingston, Nanticoke, Forty Fort. It appears, for whatever reasons, the KKK is targeting this area as a prime recruiting area.</p><p>Yet local law enforcement has not publicly expressed great concern for this activity. It was obvious Sunday evening a lot of people are fearful of what has been going on in their neighborhoods.</p><p>The East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire have not responded to calls asking why they have stepped up their efforts in Luzerne County. We want to know why they dropped their flyers in quiet neighborhoods like Jay Street in Swoyersville.</p><p>That&#8217;s where John and Mary Kurlandski, a white couple, live with their four adopted African American children &#8212; John, 24, Frank, 22, Maria, 18, and Christine, 13. I met the Kurlandski family at the vigil. They are really nice people. Frank told me he works at a local hospital, taking care of patients.</p><p>I wonder if any of those KKK-leaning people would object to Frank helping them during a hospital stay?</p><p>Christine told me she found the KKK flyer on her front lawn when she was leaving to catch the school bus. She said she didn&#8217;t know what it meant until she gave it to her mother, who explained it to her.</p><p>That&#8217;s when Christine got scared.</p><p>Here&#8217;s a kid living in a nice neighborhood in a nice town who has been given an opportunity to grow up in a loving home &#8212; to be raised by two loving parents who want to see her succeed in life. Christine told me she&#8217;s a pretty good student.</p><p>Why should this kid and her brothers and sister have to learn about the evil ways of the KKK in this day and age?</p><p>I talked to three young white men at the vigil. They said they don&#8217;t support the KKK and its beliefs, but they also said they thought the vigil was &#8220;over the top.&#8221; They said they are afraid to speak out about the high rate of violent crime in the region &#8212; crime they say is predominantly committed by African Americans.</p><p>These three guys are right when they advocate for an open dialogue to search for solutions to the problem of violent crime that plagues our society. Local municipalities are struggling to fight crime with their limited budgets and dwindling support from state and federal governments.</p><p>You&#8217;re damn right it&#8217;s a problem. And it should be approached with an attitude of fixing the problem, not blaming any particular age group or ethnicity. We need to recognize the specifics of the problem and find ways to address them.</p><p>The real irony here is crimes are usually committed by those who have not had a good home life. By those whose parents were not there for them. By misguided kids who have found themselves running with the wrong crowd, influenced by the wrong people.</p><p>These are many of the people who commit crimes.</p><p>That&#8217;s why people like John and Mary Kurlandski are so important. They are doing their part for their adopted children to see they learn the importance of family and apply themselves in school so they can provide a better life for themselves.</p><p>The Kurlandskis shouldn&#8217;t have found a KKK flyer on their front lawn. They and other residents of Jay Street should not be targeted by a hate group that professes all that is wrong with our country.</p><p>Nobody should be afraid of having people like the Kurlandskis in their neighborhood, helping others become solid citizens.</p><p>We should be honoring them for their genuine concern for their fellow human beings.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Bill O&#8217;Boyle </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Columnshot-1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Bill O&#8217;Boyle </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110215vigil11.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Swoyersville Mayor Chris Concert waits while everyone lights their candles in Roosevelt Park on Sunday night. The candlelight demonstration was held to stand up against racism with other members of the community. 11/1/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_TTL110215vigil11.jpg</photo1><caption1>Swoyersville Mayor Chris Concert waits while everyone lights their candles in Roosevelt Park on Sunday night. The candlelight demonstration was held to stand up against racism with other members of the community. 11/1/15. Sean McKeag | Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1>Sean McKeag | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

In Focus: Swoyersville residents take a public stance against racism