Every so often, I come across a serious topic that inspires me. It’s a departure for my usual, lighter pieces. This was originally written as a newspaper opinion piece, and I thought that in the current political climate, it has some degree of relevance.
“ . . . they defined themselves by what offended them.” writes author Stacy Schiff, describing Puritan New England in 1692, in her book, “The Witches”. She further identifies the Puritan mindset: “They had come a great distance to worship as they pleased; [yet] they were intolerant of those who did so differently.” These were religious perspectives, of course, coming at a time when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was trying to find its footing and identify that for which it stood.
In a larger sense, though, are we risking becoming that society once again? We have come through periods of intense fear, letting it control us. Arthur Miller wrote his famous play, The Crucible, in 1953, in an allegory drawing parallels to the McCarthy era of accusations about, and fear of communism. We sometimes forget that, in the pre-Civil War south, with a population of about 11 million, 7 million were black. In fact, a major worry among Southern planters had always been a large-scale revolt among the black population. The power shift of freed Africans was potentially seismic after the war, so whites invented ways to maintain the status – denying that freed slaves were citizens, and further devising multitudes of restrictions that kept them from voting. As it happens, we can trace the “golden age” of renewed racial tensions and rise of the Ku Klux Klan to 1920’s and their view of white supremacy. It didn’t happen in the late 1800’s, as many of us have assumed. Yes, the early 20th century was a period of monuments of heroes and imagery of the “lost cause”, clinging tenaciously to intolerance that defined, and perhaps in places still does define Southern, fearful white culture.
Black Americans have told tales of fighting to liberate the concentration camps of Germany and Poland at the end of World War II, knowing at the same time that they weren’t allowed to use certain bathrooms or ride in the front seats of buses in many parts of their home country. The recent protest demonstrations on college campuses have been labelled “students out of control”, and worse, “antisemitism”. Whether they are or aren’t is a subject for another day. But our reaction to those protests is interesting. Student protesters are offering a differing point of view at a time when images of tens of thousands of slaughtered Palestinians, including most recently children in a bombed school. Maybe, like the Puritans, we’re quick to dismiss the demonstrations, to call them “intolerable”, to be easily offended, the youthful participants carrying ignorant biases.
Human rights have formed a core belief of the American ideal. Our constitution lays it out. “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity . . .”, That boldly states blanket coverage. We are the “posterity”. But we haven’t always been willing to embrace the inherent rights and blessings of liberty. In recent comments from those elected to represent us, here is just a sampling: “When Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., stood on the House floor this month to announce her proposal to censure the only Somali-born member of Congress, she said she was seeking punishment for ‘Rep. Ilhan Omar of Somalia — I mean Minnesota.’ Earlier that same week, Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, called the Black husband of another Democratic woman of color, Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, a “thug.” He then said Bush, who is also Black, had received so many death threats because she was “so loud all the time.” “At a hearing across the Capitol, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., grilled the CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew, about his nation of origin. [NOTE: His family is from Singapore].” (NY Times; Feb. 13, 2024) As recently as last fall, three college students in Vermont were shot for wearing traditional Palestinian clothing.
So, what is it that allows us to put up with this type of intolerance? And worse, are we allowing that intolerance to define us as Americans? Laying blame on the previous administration isn’t completely fair, because it didn’t begin there, although much of it was allowed to go unchecked, and thus became acceptable. Intolerance has sadly been a part of this country’s DNA since the Mayflower dropped anchor. From the time that Africans first arrived at our shores in chains, and Native Americans were asked, not too politely, to move out, fear took hold on the American continent. Because racism, and intolerance with it are a mixture of control and fear. Fear of others displacing us, and control that we have always enjoyed as a majority might slip away. I mention the previous administration only because our former president, through his comments, his social media activity, gave hate speech a sense of legitimacy for many of his followers. “President Donald Trump has undermined Black Lives Matter protesters, calling them “terrorists” and “thugs.” He has made Asian Americans the target of hate crimes, calling the deadly coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and “Kung flu.” And the president has used eugenics to appeal to his white supporters, telling a mostly white crowd in Minnesota they have ‘good genes’.” (USA Today; Oct., 2020). Does that strike anyone as just a bit reminiscent of another culture 80 plus years ago? Mr. Trump’s rhetoric has in the past, and sadly continues to create a toxic atmosphere that translates into actions that horrify us. When he called white supremacists in Virginia, “fine people”, they interpreted that as approval, a call to keep going. And he’s continuing, speaking out about his recent court convictions, stating that “millions of people pouring into our country right now from prisons and from mental institutions…and they’re taking over our country…” Creating fear. Losing control. Weren’t those what January 6th, 2021, was all about? “His [former President Donald Trump’s] approach has encouraged some Republicans to freely use rhetoric that denigrates people based on ethnicity, religion or nationality.” (NYTimes). Yes, it has. Like Representatives Greene and Nehls, and Senator Cotton.
Congress seemed, earlier this year, poised to finally, yes, finally reach some kind of bipartisan agreement on a policy for immigration – an issue that’s been plaguing us, instilling fear for decades and is a key concern running up to national elections. The deal was moving forward until conservatives in the House, inspired by a former president, have put up barbed wire around the deal. Wouldn’t it make sense to put something in place? Congress has to do it, because the president really can’t. But agreeing to a policy would rob Republicans of a key campaign issue. Or was the deal that bad? We’ll never know, because what taking anger and offence are often more powerful than ideas upon which we can agree.
The small group of far-right extremists, and sadly those exerting undue influence on the Republican party’s leadership, aren’t great listeners. So far, they’ve just been hearing their own voices, or those from some giddy, misinformed voters wearing red hats and waving signs. They are defining themselves, and being defined, whether politically, economically, or culturally, “by what offends them.”
I'm Thinking...No! 