Rhetoric Race and Religion
On August 11 in Charlottesville, Virginia, White Supremacists marched through the city and on the campus of the University of Virginia shouting racist epithets and declaring that “Jews will not replace us.” On August 12, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. committed an act of domestic terrorism by driving his car into a crowd of people, killing one person (Heather Heyer) and injuring many more. Below some R3 readers offer reflections on these incidents.
White nationalism is racism. Opposing opportunities for “those people” in the interest of keeping your country “great” is white nationalism.
It might be time to check what your political priorities are and what your opposition to the efforts of the disenfranchised says about your real beliefs on racial equality.
What’s happening in Charlottesville is the result of racism running free in the guise of fiscal responsibility and not giving handouts. Your political choices have emboldened them. Your president has sanctioned them.
If you refuse to speak against them and put your vote where your mouth is, you have sanctioned them, too.-Andrea Terry
White Supremacy doesn’t always garb up in white cloaks and hoods. It’s spoken around dinner tables. It whispers in locker rooms. It makes decisions in board rooms. It votes in almost every election. It is voiced in racist stereotypes excused as mere jokes. It perpetuates itself by saying, “Racism is just a thing of the past.” It buys houses in monolithic neighborhoods. It determines destiny by zip code. It declares unjust wars. It blames the poor for being poor. And, yes, sometimes it dresses up in white cloaks and hoods. The trouble is, it is most masked when it’s not under a hood at all.-Tom Fuerst
White folk:
Why do y’all get to live racism comfortably and appeal to your relationships with black people (e.g., your adopted child, black friend) but I can’t call y’alls bullshit out and appeal to my white ancestry (i.e., my white grandfather)? How come y’all can use black folk (e.g., Ben Carson) to corroborate basic myths about black criminality but Barack Obama can’t possibly speak authoritatively on race even though he’s half white?
By y’alls logic, isn’t familial kinship (blood,your Asian/Latina wife/cousin/friend) a criterion for speaking authoritatively on a subject?
And it’s not an argument to say “well you don’t own/claim your white identity.” Not true and not a thing. I’m black because y’all make it clear I’m black. Every single day.-Matt Vega
I am not sad about #VA today. As a son of the south with family members that faced lynchings I am only disappointed some nazis did not get a ticket to the next dimension. I am not going go pray about it. I know I’ll have to patiently tolerate the mewling and wailing of religious people, the faux outrage of politicos, bloggers and academics the next few weeks. I am not going to any kumbyahh meetings. I am teaching my kids how to defeat people like them and to regard them as enemies. I know this may sound strange but I feel empowered.-Reynaldo Anderson
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