A Call For A Hiatus On Hate
About a week ago, a man with connections to a white supremacist group drove his vehicle into a crowd of counter-protesters. The result: one dead and several more injured.
The rally was held under the guise of a protest against the removal of several monuments and statues commemorating Confederate leaders from a bye-gone century. But let us be clear about this: the rally was a white supremacist gathering. Nothing more, nothing less. And those in attendance were not there to save their “culture.” They were there to protest because they are afraid of black and brown people. To them, removal of these monuments was an attack on their whiteness. I say this as a white male with many family members in Appalachia, which is a place not known for its tolerance of minorities. That isn’t to say that the South is the same as it was 100 years ago, or even 50 years ago, but where prejudices used to be on full display, they now linger just beneath a porous surface of disdain and contempt. The pores are growing and the hate seeping through more and more.
When the tragedy happened, my immediate response was one of “here we go again.” I knew that there would be a rallying cry on the left to talk about Trump supporters as racists, and so I came to the defense of reason. I did not come the defense of those in attendance, but of reason itself. Where was the left when antifa groups were beating Trump supporters during the campaign, or using violence to stifle speech they did not like? Where was the left when Obama sat in the pews of an unquestionably racist preacher for 20 years? Where were they when Eric Holder refused to prosecute Black Panther members who stood outside polling places with billy clubs, intimidating white voters?
I must admit, however, such comparisons are totally irrelevant. I have heard some say that drawing moral equivalences is inappropriate because this event was so much worse than others in their memories which were committed by leftist groups/individuals. With that sentiment, I disagree. But where I must admit my own failing, and the failing of those on the right, is the inability to let an event stand on its own. Why must we make comparisons? Sure, I understand the desire to call out hypocrisy wherever it lives; to defend fairness as you see it, but is it right? No. It is not.
It means that white college student should not look at his black counterpart and wonder if affirmative action got him his spot in the calls. It means the black student should not assume that the white student comes from money and that everything has been handed to him.
I once knew a black woman who grew up in Appalachia, very near where my family finds its American roots. I asked her about her experiences growing up black in Appalachia, expecting her to recount story after story of prejudice and discrimination. Much to my surprise, she said that she got along well, was never bullied, and can’t remember ever being called a derogatory name. I was glad to hear that. But then Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, Missouri. Suddenly she became the banner-man for cries of white oppression against blacks. She claimed to have been degraded and dehumanized when she lived in the south, shouted at, and threatened. I knew, based on my conversations with her prior to any of these events, that she was flat out lying. However, I understand the desire to identify with “her people.” A similar phenomenon occurred last week when so many white folks came to the defense of their whiteness, but did so at the expense of sounding as though they were sympathetic to white supremacy, when that was not at all what they had intended.
The knee jerk reaction to look to comparative events or incidents committed by your political or philosophical opponents is natural, but it does nothing other than cement your position. It sounds off the walls of the echo chamber of partisanship and personal ideologies. It does nothing to solve a problem, and racism is a problem the United States still clearly struggles with.
Now, before I get cries of political correctness, let me unequivocally state: despite its problems, the United States is very likely the least racist country on earth. I have visited countries all over the world, and I have observed that America is the most diverse and commingled country there is. Compared to every other country, it truly is a melting pot of peoples from all over the world. It is on this observation that I make the call for a hiatus on hate.
A hiatus on hate is this: no longer holding current generations of people liable for the sins of their ancestors. It means no longer grouping people together as if they are homogeneous and share a common experience. They don’t. It means that white college student should not look at his black counterpart and wonder if affirmative action got him his spot in the calls. It means the black student should not assume that the white student comes from money and that everything has been handed to him. It means we stop using phrases like, “white people,” “black people,” “Mexicans,” “fly over country,” “Hollywood elites,” and the like. Language is powerful. It has the power to empower or destroy. It can comfort or cause pain. It can heal or it can rip open wounds. These phrases do nothing more than to further separate us from each other.
A hiatus on hate means that we have to begin judging each person by their individual merits. It does not mean that hate will disappear, but it means that we, as an entire nation made up of individuals striving to make it, will hold ourselves accountable for our own actions. It means that we hold others accountable only for their actions, and not the actions of others. It means we start talking about topics heretofore deemed too taboo for polite conversation.
Let me start: I pledge to hold myself accountable for my actions and thoughts. I will not blame others for what they had no part in. I will not hold entire groups of people to account for the actions of individuals.
Will you join me?
Lucas Rowe is an attorney in private practice. Find out more at rowecgllc.com.
