Below is a piece I originally posted on Sunday, August 13, 2017. I unpublished it on Monday, August 14, 2017. Due to some Monday happenstances, I realized how very naive my opinions regarding counter-protests and the reason for the Charlottesville protest were. When I realized that on Monday, I was shaken to my core and unpublished the piece. I mostly no longer agree with my previous opinion. I've sorted through my discomfort enough that I want to republish the piece. I like having records that help me recall and compare my self with my self as I travel this ever-changing path of life...
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Sunday, August 13, 2017
Yesterday as Hubby and I were driving in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, I looked out over the peaceful pastures with grazing cows and rolled bales of hay. Billowy and wispy white clouds in a sea of blue touched the horizon. It's a scene I imbibe regularly. Most always, in the midst of the peacefulness, I think of the hard labor it takes to run a farm.
Yesterday I also thought, What a contrast this scene is to what is happening a few hours up the road in Charlottesville. This was before we knew anything about the car murder. We don't have cell service (so as to check the news) in that area of the mountains. Even if we had service, I had no desire to check the news.
I said to Hubby, "It seems to me, that if a person really wants to promote peace, they wouldn't show up as counter-protesters at this type rally. It's bound to end in violence, given the ideology and the display of KKK attire and Nazi flags. These people are supposedly showing up to protest the removal of Robert E. Lee's statue. Just let them have their rally, then the day after or so, have the counter-protest. For something like Westboro Baptist protesting at a person's funeral, I can agree with a simultaneous counter-protest. Westboro should shut the fuck up and allow the family to bury their loved one in peace. But this in Charlottesville? This, with the political climate as it is? I just can't see how it won't end in violence."
Perhaps that's a faulty or naive or politically-incorrect idea - to not simultaneously counter-protest at this type rally. But it might save lives and prevent damage. Though part of me wants to see Nazi and KKK ideology made illegal, a larger part of me revolts to such an idea. Where would the line be drawn then for any ideology and belief?
Later, after supper, I saw the news about the car murder earlier in the day in Charlottesville. My heart sank.
I endeavor to read both sides of the story. So I read one of CNN's reports on Charlottesville. I read one of Breitbart's reports. Both condemn the alt-right violence in Charlottesville (though Breitbart claims the Nazi/white-supremacist groups are not "alt-right"). My mind perused its files on cult-think and extremism and their relation to acts of violence.
I read an opinion piece in New York Times, written by a conservative: What Trump Got Wrong on Charlottesville. One of the author's defining paragraphs states: "Racial superiority is a repugnant idea and President Trump should condemn it by name. We should also note honestly that President Trump employs individuals who emboldened this movement. The president winked at and made kissy face with the alt-right as his advisers persuaded him it would be good politically. It is no coincidence that many of the men who marched in Charlottesville wore “Make America Great Again” hats. This president and his advisers made a nefarious evil feel comfortable coming out of the shadows."
I agree with that opinion.
I also think that if a Muslim had carried out this car murder, Trump would be tweeting up a storm about "Islamic terrorists." But I don't think he should tweet a storm about white-supremacy and Nazis either. That kind of rhetoric from a president only feeds the fury inciting more violence. But I think a president of the United States should outright condemn racial supremacy, the KKK, Nazism, and the like. And he should do so not only in times of peace, but also and especially at the moments when acts of violence born from those ideologies are taking place.
I also found an article on Mother Jones published January, 26, 2017: The Long History of “Nazi Punching”. It's obviously not about Charlottesville because it was written in January, but it still applies.
The author shares historical incidents of violence by extremist groups from both "right" and "left," and an account from his personal life. He brought to mind my own harmful experiences in "anti" groups and how "anti" groups can end up like mirrors of the groups they oppose.
The author's last sentences state: "The return of the war between fascists and anti-fascists is another expression of our current political atavism. This time, given a uniquely pugilistic president of the United States, the battle may rage hotter than ever." (I had to look up "pugilistic." A pugilist is a fancy word for boxer - one who fights with fists.)
I wish us humans could learn better from history, instead of repeating it over and over and over.
The Charlottesville car murderer, James Alex Fields, is 20 years old. Made me think of the 2015 Charleston terrorist, Dylann Roof. He was 21 when he committed his acts. I wonder if Roof is one of Fields' heroes?
4 comments:
Hi Carol...you are probably lucky you are no longer on Facebook. My head is spinning from all the rhetoric surrounding this horrific event. So now most everyone wants all the Confederate memorials stored away from sight...as if that is going to end racism. It is not and that's my stance. Most of the Confederate statues in our small towns in Texas were put there over a hundred years ago to commemorate the soldiers who died in the Civil War and the vast majority of those never wanted to go to war or owned slaves and I do not approve of desecrating them to appease a few who now claim they offend them....though they evidently haven't through the years. The history of that war is complicated and Lincoln only signed the Emancipation order years after it started as a military objective to pump up the ranks with slaves who ran away from the south he didn't know what to do with. It didn't become official until the end of the war became official. What a mess this so called President is making of our country...such a disgrace! He is only fueling the flames...not trying in any way to extinguish them. So sad. Hope you are feeling much better. xoxoxo
Hey Anna!
Always great to "see" you.
I'm with you on Trump. A few days before the Charlottesville tragedy, I got fed up enough with Trump (due to his No. Korea war rhetoric) that I finally signed the impeachment petition. I read this morning that Trump's ghost writer predicts that Trump will resign before the end of 2017...because then Trump (if faced with a probable impeachment) can twist the situation that he wins; ie: impeachment would be losing. Ironically, a couple days ago, I was thinking about and discussing psychopathy with a friend and a psychopath's need to win. But our dialog wasn't about Trump.
As far as Confederate monument removals, if I had to vote today, I'd vote to remove them. And I don't think it will end racism. Sadly, I don't know if anything will. And I don't think their removal erases or changes history. I believe history will be preserved and maybe even more so, simply due to the huge controversy over the issue. I've gone through lots of thoughts and comparisons in my head over the past couple months..and more in recent days, of course. Maybe I'll write a blog piece about some of my thought processes. There are many. Ha!
I ran across an interesting article yesterday. It's short. By no means exhaustive. A few historians share their take on some history regarding Confederate monuments and symbols. http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2017/aug/15/joy-reid/did-confederate-symbols-gain-prominence-civil-righ/
I'm gonna read more on the subject over the coming days.
Hope you are doing well and have had good travels this summer. I can't remember your travel schedule, but I know you were/are traveling to be with family celebrations.
Peace to us all....
xoxo
Carol, The issue of statue removal is the only only position I agree with creep-in-chief on, but I guarantee you our reasons are totally different. Here are a couple of comments I made on a FB post of mine on the issue and may help you understand my position: "Anyone who knows me knows I have never been a racist but this issue is far more complicated than what is on the surface. African Americans were involved at that point in time in many ways other than being slaves and that is the point I try to make. Yes, they were ‘free’ in the North, but were still considered second-class citizens to many in the North. They still did not have the right to vote nor were they allowed in the same establishments as whites.....nor given it after the war. This is why so many free blacks stayed in the South when the war started. They stayed to fight for their homeland against the ‘Yankees’. There was between 50,000 to 100,000 blacks that served in the Confederate Army as cooks, blacksmiths, and yes, even soldiers. Some were slave owners. There is no distinct black and white in this situation and removing monuments white men erected to honor soldiers of all colors from the south won't change that fact…." "Photo taken in 1900...a year after this monument was built in Travis Park in San Antonio Texas. It is 40 feet tall and most folks of all races through the years who enjoyed the park thought it was a statue of William B Travis, Commander who died with all his defenders in the Alamo after whom the park is named. So did I when I visited it a number of times. It's kinda hard to see up there and there is no name inscribed. Travis Park is located on grounds that were once Alamo battlegrounds. Actually, the statue is of an unknown Confederate soldier. The sculptor depicted the figure pointing to heaven where he wants to go to be with his comrades. It is a monument to Confederate fallen soldiers and that is inscribed on it higher up the column. Also on another side is inscribed, “Lest We Forget.” There is a big controversy going on as to whether it should be replaced and the decision will be made later this month by city councilmen. I no longer know if there is a right or wrong answer to desecrating history...but I'm not in favor of it. A lot of soldiers, both Mexicans and Texians, died on that hallowed ground in 1836. Carol, there were so many Confederate soldiers, most very young and of low rank who never wanted to fight that war, and never owned a slave. Why can’t people look at those monuments as memorials and tombstones for the hundreds of thousands and different races that were buried on the battlefield where they fell in unmarked graves?
Hey Anna...
Thanks for sharing. And yes, I too know you are no racist.
And I am not one who wants to forget, desecrate, or try to erase history. "Lest we forget,"not only regarding physical war but also other aspects of life, is something I'm pretty passionate about. I do not think that removing statues that memorialize the Confederacy violates history. Perhaps a proper place for such statues would be on the grounds of the very battlefields. And the context of the history should also be displayed...via a plaque or something. I don't know how many of these statues are on actual battlefields.
I don't have a problem with memorials to lives lost in the Civil War...on both sides. Off the top of my head, I think of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall in DC. Most folks certainly don't agree with that war, but the Memorial is in honor of lives lost.
Are there many statues commemorating the Confederacy that depict whites and blacks? I may have to google that.
I continue to read on the subject. It's interesting to read the contexts of some of these statues and the various reactions at the time of and since their erections.
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts!
~Carol
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