There is a small restaurant on 6th Avenue in Tacoma called the Southern Kitchen.

It is African-American owned and been there for decades.

Last Saturday my wife and I dropped by for breakfast. They have great food my wife had a fried chicken sandwich and I had chicken fried steak like they make in Arkansas and biscuits and gravy.

At the Southern Kitchen you will meet and sit next to all peoples — old working class whites, young hipster families , professionals. We sat next to a black couple in their 60s and the man kidded me on how smoothly I talked to wait staff.

“I’m hoping for a giant piece of sweet potato pie,” I said and he laughed.

When we paid the bill I told one of the owners what a great place this is and with all this animosity going around that this restaurant is an American treasure. He said, “You know I’ve not seen it this bad in a while… but thanks for saying so….”

This is a time when we all have to take a stand. When they are building their walls with hate we have to tear them down.

You see what’s at stake is so much deeper this time. It’s less about left and right, Democrats or Republicans and more about are we decent people? Do we care about each other?

When our leaders invoke hatred and bigotry we must react. It doesn’t matter how much money someone says they have. How many followers they have on Twitter. How many buildings bear their name — when they invoke hatred and bigotry they are empty. And when they look in the mirror all they will see is an empty set of eyes staring back at them.

The rest of us have to do right. I saw a sign at a protest that read “When they came for the Muslims we said not today you son of a ******.” For every despicable action that fumes out of Washington, D.C, the rest of us have to say, “Not today you son of a ******.”

I am a physician in my 60s. I was about to retire, but I think I’ll stick around. When they repeal Obamacare there will be 10 million people uninsured; 10 million people just in the first year. Think about that. I can’t do everything but I can do something. If you lost your insurance and you live near South King County, I will be your doctor. I take Obamacare and I see the uninsured. We can’t do everything but we all can do something.

I will see you at the airports, at the federal buildings, in the city streets, maybe at the Southern Kitchen in Tacoma. Maybe in my waiting room in Auburn. I will be happy to see you because we are all that remains of our American treasure.

David Schumer

Enumclaw