{"id":331,"date":"2017-08-13T16:27:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-13T22:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.irenenorth.com\/writings\/?p=331"},"modified":"2024-04-22T02:46:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T02:46:16","slug":"when-will-you-step-up-and-speak-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irenenorth.com\/writings\/2017\/08\/13\/when-will-you-step-up-and-speak-out\/","title":{"rendered":"When will you step up and speak out?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I almost can’t believe I’m writing about Nazis.<\/p>\n

Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in upstate New York, I heard about Nazis a lot. They were the evil people the world fought in World War II<\/a>. Why the world fought is a complicated matter, but in simple terms, Nazis wanted to eliminate anyone not like them. To them, Jews<\/a> were most responsible for the ills in Germany. But if you were Polish, mentally ill, old, etc., you were a target as well.<\/p>\n

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While the Nazis were defeated, remnants of their ideology lingered. In the United States, the First Amendment<\/a> to our Constitution values free speech<\/a> so much, Nazis, white nationalist and fascists are allowed to continue with their rhetoric and protests. As a teenager, I saw and read news articles about the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and white nationalist rallies. Most of them were in the South. Everyone laughed. We knew these people were on the fringes of society. We educated ourselves about these groups and decided we wanted no part of any group promoting hate and exclusion of others.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the last decade. These hateful people were still around, but they received validation from people who did not like a black man in the White House. They hung<\/a> President Obama in effigy. They called him vile names.<\/p>\n

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Throughout the 2016 presidential campaign, they came back with a vengeance. Conservatives<\/a> didn’t admonish them. Some liberals didn’t either. Everyone was under the impression these repugnant human beings<\/a> were still on the fringe. Donald Trump seemed to encourage them<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I, and others, however, warned what a Trump presidency could be like. On election day, I told several people their vote for Trump would only embolden<\/a> the racists<\/a>. They scoffed. They said they weren’t racist. I explained a vote for Trump was a vote condoning sexist and racist behavior. They wouldn’t believe me. Today, I sit in my living room, having watched the events which unfolded on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017 and I again have this same argument. Only this time, the Trump supporters I know are saying these people were just \u201cfed up Americans\u201d and they aren’t racist or Nazis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I’m fed up, too. I don’t, however, kill people or treat others like garbage to make myself feel superior. I attempt to talk to others, at least those who are willing to have an honest, open dialogue<\/a> and don’t regurgitate Breitbart or FOX News.<\/p>\n

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You are Nazis. If you walk around with swastika tattoos, yell, \u201cJews will not replace us,\u201d \u201cSeig Heil,\u201d and \u201cBlood and Soil,\u201d you’re a Nazi. If you extend the Nazi salute, you’re a Nazi. And these people like what they hear<\/a> from the president.<\/p>\n

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A HISTORY LESSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, they are racist<\/a>. If we don’t do something<\/a> to stop this now, it will only get worse.<\/p>\n

In recent years, there has been a push to remove Confederate statues and monuments from their respective places in the South. Some have said this is an effort to rewrite history. Those who live in the South believe their ancestors were heroes who were defending the south against oppressors in Washington. Many claim the south was fighting for state’s rights, but that’s disingenuous.<\/p>\n

In their declarations of causes of seceding from the United States<\/a>, the southern states made clear, their property \u2013 slaves \u2013 were at the heart of the matter.<\/p>\n

Georgia said, \u201cFor the last ten years we have had numerous and serious causes of complaint against our non-slave-holding confederate States with reference to the subject of African slavery. They have endeavored to weaken our security, to disturb our domestic peace and tranquility, and persistently refused to comply with their express constitutional obligations to us in reference to that property, and by the use of their power in the Federal Government have striven to deprive us of an equal enjoyment of the common Territories of the Republic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Georgia went on to say everyone agreed Africans were subordinate and unequal to Whites and the North didn’t complain when they received goods from the south made with slave hands, so there are no need to argue it now. Georgia ended its declaration by saying depriving them of their slaves would result in a subversion of society and destruction of their families.<\/p>\n

Mississippi said, \u201cOur position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery– the greatest material interest of the world. Its labor supplies the product which constitutes by far the largest and most important portions of commerce of the earth. These products are peculiar to the climate verging on the tropical regions, and by an imperious law of nature, none but the black race can bear exposure to the tropical sun. These products have become necessities of the world, and a blow at slavery is a blow at commerce and civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mississippi listed 14 reasons it was seceding. Four did not directly relate to slavery.<\/p>\n

South Carolina said the Declaration of Independence said they were free, sovereign and independent states. Citing Article IV<\/a> of the U.S. Constitution, South Carolina was angry the North didn’t uphold the law which stated if a slave escaped into another state, it was that state’s responsibility to return the slave back to the party to \u201cwhom such service or labor may be due.\u201d In the declaration, South Carolina was angry at the belief the entire government now thought as the northern states did.<\/p>\n

Texas viewed the United States as a country that wanted slaves forever. Texas was upset that no more state could join the Union as slave states and called the Northern States disloyal and the federal government imbeciles. Texas was also angry that the government did not do enough to protect them from \u201cIndian savages\u201d and the \u201cmurderous forays of banditti from the neighboring territory of Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n

Texas accused abolitionists of \u201cactively sowing the seeds of discord through the Union.\u201d Texas lists seven ways these groups have deprived slave owners of their slaves.<\/p>\n

Virginia also said the federal government perverted their powers, \u201cnot only to the injury of the people of Virginia, but to the oppression of the Southern Slaveholding States.\u201d<\/p>\n

That’s right. The southern states were being oppressed. Not black people. That’s what they believed.<\/p>\n

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Imagine if these people ever faced actual oppression. pic.twitter.com\/dhPCbtfEjO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Julius Goat (@JuliusGoat) August 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n