Reacting to hate is one of the most radioactive forms of emotional energy to deal with in that it can often feed off itself with catastrophic consequences.
This thought came to mind following the neo-nazi and white supremacist “Unite The Right” rally in Charlotteville, Virginia in support of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The group was fighting to keep the statue in it’s current location after local residents and advocates pushed for it’s removal citing it’s historical context as a symbol of racism.
No matter how these neo-nazis and white supremacists felt about this issue, their blatant exhibition of hatred and bigotry including a semi-reenactment of the KKK by marching through the night with torches, waving both nazi and confederate flags and chanting against blacks, Jews and gays deserves, nor will receive, any shelter or defense from KCP.
Both mainstream Democrats and Republicans rightfully condemned this behavior as something that has no place in America. Additionally, President Trump‘s lack of condemnation of it was sickening, unpresidential, scary, and quite frankly, impeachment deserves careful consideration.
Among the logical reasons collective hatred and xenophobia must get total condemnation is that if it gathers nationalistic steam, as such was the case in Nazi Germany, the only answer is to fight it with physical confrontation and war. This is humanity at its worst, and the outcome of which, is always unpredictable.
We’re not at that point in this country, but we’re moving towards another crossroads in our history with it. And how we react can be the difference between the relatively small-scale violence and rhetoric this country is currently seeing, and full-scale civil unrest.
Besides dealing with this hate, our country somehow needs to come to terms with its’ sordid history of both killing native Americans and the brutal use of slavery to build the country. Among the questions we need answering are: How do we pay homage to our history – both good and bad- without rewriting it? Is it possible to honor both its great accomplishments while recognizing and not erasing its shameful past with as Lincoln said, “…Malice towards none and charity towards all… to bind up our nation’s wounds.”
There’s other issues that need front-burner attention as well. The rise of urban social dominance coupled with the growing decay of suburban and rural areas is one. Figuring out how identity politics fits into our multicultural society is another. The challenge of allowing freedom of speech from both the right and left on college campuses and elsewhere is still another.
These are not cut-and-dried issues such as the social unrest that occurred during the violent Civil Rights era of the 1960s, which resulted with sweeping federal civil rights legislation and the end of this country’s Jim Crow era as we knew it. But one takeaway from the 60’s is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership and views towards hate. Here are a few of his thoughts on the matter:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
Yes, we must condemn and resist the neo-nazis and white supremacists and what they stand for at every turn. But in condemning this behavior, let’s wave a yellow caution flag. Allowing their hate to become our hate is a zero-sum game.
