
Correction: Neo Nazis Need to Start Befriending People Who Aren’t Like Them
The duty of reconciliation lies with the one who hates, no the ones who are hated.
I follow Gene Demby on Twitter. He seems to be an honest guy who tweets with a sincerity and authenticity that I too try to live with. Today he retweeted an article titled “We Need To Start Befriending Neo Nazis” with the added caption, “Nah, I’m good.”
Intrigued, I clicked through to see that the article was originally tweeted by its author with the preface, “Hear me out on this.” I read the piece, then scanned the tweet’s thread only to find a Twitter user @Matt7542 asking a great question of the author:
How come indeed, Matt.
And I think the answer to why no one ever writes that think piece can be found in a common phrase I grew up hearing; “it sounds too much like right.”
Pieces like Bethany’s are aimed at an audience like the author; well-meaning, critically-thinking, left-leaning (or just left really) Millennials with a penchant toward peace. They’re meant to make the reader feel better about the world without actually having to do anything. She even says “ … I’m not sure I have the moral fortitude to actually carry [befriending Nazis] out…” at the beginning of the piece. Why even write it?
The truth is, hatred is never a problem that can be solved by the targets of that hatred. If you hate me, that’s not my problem. That’s your problem, and you need to solve it. The examples given in that think piece of people going out of their way to educate strangers is nice and may work for some, extremely patient people. But it isn’t likely to catch on. Why?
Well, remember the attributes of our dear author? Neo Nazis are none of those things. They don’t mean well, they don’t think critically, and they don’t have a penchant for peace. They hate because they enjoy the way it feels. They hate because it gives them something to hold on to. They hate because they have nothing else.
People who’re educated in the vernacular of diversity and inclusion know this phrase: It’s not my job to educate you.
In fact, that think piece was written in 2014.
