Sunday, August 13, 2017

Calling people of good conscience.

The white supremacist march, rally, and agenda is unconscionable. They admit to being Nazis. They carry torches and the Nazi symbols and plainly identify as Nazis, white supremacists. Each of us with good conscience must call them out for what they are. We cannot deny their right to free speech, but each of us with good conscience must raise our voices against them. The white supremacists, radical right, Nazis, alt-right, or called by any other name seek only to destroy more of what is good about America.

Our fathers, my father, fought in World War II to defeat Nazi Germany. The Trump regime has invited the worst of the worst to come out of the woodwork, to skitter out from the dark places where they used to hide, and now openly spout their hatred. Do not doubt that their hate is for America. Their hate is a threat to all of us with good conscience. Their hate is damaging America. Trump asked for this when he brought an edge of hate and violence into political discourse during his campaign. Trump asked for this when he repeatedly failed to disavow the white supremacists claims that they are doing Trump's work.

Be clear that the white supremacists, our modern day Nazis, are the lunatic fringe of society. A fraction of 1% of white Americans support the idea of a white only country. Most Americans, white, black, Asian, and Hispanic support the idea that America is a melting pot of people from different cultures who have come together to build a country that is uniquely our own. Most Americans embrace the diversity and are proud of our country and proud that America stands for freedom and liberty for all.

The purported reason for the clash between white supremacists and mainstream America was the city of Charlottesville's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the town's park. The white supremacists were supposedly protesting the removal of that statue. Their protest included torch carrying, Nazi swastikas, and running over and killing an anti-racist protester. Nineteen others were wounded. The right wing lunatic fringe likes to pretend that they are not the violent oncs. Obviously not so. The driver of the car rammed other cars that were then pushed into the crowd. That driver, now in custody, and facing a murder charge, backed up his car at a high speed and left the scene.

Black people have reason to be upset that a symbol of slavery, Robert E. Lee, stood in the town square. I wonder how white people would react if say, a statue of Bobby Seale or Huey Newton were put in its place.

To black people and all people of color - the lunatic white supremacist fringe does not represent all white people. Not by a long shot. I am a southern woman. I have lived in the south most of my life. I was raised to know that the racist mind-set is the mind-set of poor white trash.

To white people, including white conservatives and republicans - we are better than this. If you believe as I do that our current administration has promoted this violence and this hate, speak up. Speak in defense of others. Use your white privilege to help others who were not born with that accidental privilege of the lily white. Know that you have had advantages and have not had to deal with the daily struggles that people of color encounter regularly.

And, if you're still convinced that Black Lives Matter is an affront to whites everywhere. Get over it. Black lives do matter, they have always mattered. The historic and recent spate of law enforcement killing unarmed black women and men is indefensible. It is undeniable that black people and people of color are killed by law enforcement much more frequently than whites. If you're law enforcement, and in a position to make things better, do it now before its too late.


The last thing America needs is an all out race war. Don't doubt that the current regime wants a war one way or the other, so that he can swoop in and be the only one to bring order. Police state, lock down, genetic cleansing, mass deportations, what else? These are the events that happened in Nazi Germany, and they happened because the good Germans didn't stand up. Stand up - all with good conscience, stand up before its too late.

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