It Takes a Nation To Raise a Child
It may seem that there is nothing to say about the life sentence that avowed Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. received for deliberately driving his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters at the 2017 rally in Charlottesville. After all, you have a guilty plea to a hate-driven first degree murder, as well as a totally unrepentant perpetrator. This is a full-on way of life for Fields, who once remarked upon visiting the death camps in Germany, “This is where the magic happened.” So again, maybe there really is nothing that makes this at all remarkable.
But think of it this way, if you will. This was an avoidable tragedy. This was a mass failing of the entire fabric of American society, as we all play a role in determining the type of culture we create for ourselves. Fields is only one member of a community of white supremacists whose numbers are rapidly growing, and who are committing violent crimes at a rate that is exploding.
In the absence of an entire community, and a growing one at that, of people who thrive on racial hate, in which indiscriminate murder is actually encouraged, people like Fields would have nowhere to turn for comradeship. We have allowed the level of mutually felt racial tension and distrust, until recently making progress for the better, to be brought to a boil, quite deliberately and for political purposes. We’ve enabled an entire community of these people, and now we’re paying the price.
It’s true that Fields bears the responsibility for his actions, but it’s also true that every American needs to reject, at every opportunity and with all possible vehemence, the values of hate and divisiveness.
Craig,
Firstly, “the number of of white supremacists” is not rapidly growing! That’s an obvious lie!
There has never been a time in the history of the US when these insignificant groups of misanthropes have been less numerous.
Yet, you still can’t bear to speak out against the faster growing and far more violent numbers belong to the radical left ANT-FA alliance.
I, (like the President) condemn both of these misanthropic pests equally. Neither should have any place in a free society. (Unfortunately, being free, means they have to be allowed to exist).
Until you can renounce all extremism, your word have no credibility.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/20/hate-groups-white-power-supremacists-southern-poverty-law-center/2918416002/
16.6 million more here: https://www.google.com/search?q=rise+of+white+supremacy&oq=rise+of+white+supremacy+&aqs=chrome..69i57.7399j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Craig,
Thank you for your reply.
You appear to be the victim of wanting to believe something is true, so you seek selective media opinion articles, laden with dubious suppositions, that will agree with want you want to be true, is true.
The media stories are over-hyped and under-researched.
By using vague and sweeping terminology, almost any group can be classed as a ‘Hate Group’. One study compiled it’s conclusion from the number of ‘Hate’ groups on the internet, (no explanation of methodology provided) concluded that 75% were affiliated with “White Supremacists” and this was quotes by the Washington Post as an “Authoritative Study”. The “Hate” groups included Catholic Family Planning associations, etc.
Another problem has been quoting statistics in relation to the rise of “hate crime”. It’s only very recently since legislatures and jurisdictions have provided a legal definition for “hate crime”, therefore it’s obvious that newer statistics will include “statistical’ increases. The are not actual increases in incidents, merely the statistics reflecting new categorization.
The statistics become even more unreliable because a single incident can now be related in numerous categories, which if not taken carefully and in context, seems like a dramatic increase.
Sadly, journalist are not prone to careful and unbiased analysis, but eager to sensationalize as much as possible.
Commonsense must tell you all this hype is nonsense.
Sure, I get you don’t like a populist President occupying the White House, but this current burst of liberal media hysteria is no more valid the “reds under the bed scare”, in fact far less so.
10 tiny new radical ‘Hate” groups on the internet, doesn’t mean 10 times more people or sympathizers, it just means the same number now calling themselves by increasingly important titles!
Your theory of “bogeyman” White supremacists and other misanthropes being on the rise, is part of your desire to create an “enemy” and fed by contrived media paranoia.
(It seems there are more people studying “white supremacists” groups than white supremacists!)
Your problem is your own perspective. The further you move to the left, the more the “right’ seems to increase in numbers.
I guess your perspective has become so distorted that you can’t bring yourself to publicly condemn violent extreme leftist organizations (or even the violence of their behavior)such as ANTI-FA ?
That’s kinda sad.