I Urge You to Vote Against Hatred and Bigotry

My siblings, my niece and I singing at our  Mother's memorial

Just read a fascinating article from my college's magazine about how the KKK terrorized the University of Dayton back in the 1920's. It struck me, the irony of the KKK's tactics was their form of terror: they burnt a CROSSES on the campus lawn. Why has no one ever mentioned the sheer stupidity of a group of men who used a holy symbol of Christ dying on a cross as a form of terror? In their initiation ceremonies these befuddled men prayed and only allowed Protestants to enter their "knighthood". I found it amusing to see pictures of grown men dressed as nuns with pointed caps marching in a parade down the streets of Dayton, Ohio. To bad I wasn't around to point and laugh.Were people too afraid to make them objects of ridicule? Guess so. More frightening, did the populace at the time agree with the egregiousness of their actions?

UD is a Catholic university and the KKKs were targeting it and many other religious universities across the country in the late 19th and early 20th century. They were, like the brotherhood of the Nazis, also of course, terrorizing the people of color: black, brown, yellow, Jewish folks, homosexuals and immigrants. How I wish that the racism, hatred and terrorism of those early days was a thing of the past. It's not, there are still small enclaves of white supremacists*. Obama's elections brought some them out lathering at the mouth---sadly looking like rabid dogs. 

As for immigrants, for example, Mitt Romney's Dad was born in Mexico and therefore was an immigrant. To my knowledge,  no one made a big deal of it. Obama was born in Hawaii and whoosh, "birthers" were convinced that there was some skulduggery going on. Seems he was the wrong color for Hawaii or the religious right or the tea party. 

So why do I believe that the tea party and the religions right have taken a page from the KKK? Here are a few examples:

1. They use their "Christian" religion as a weapon and deride other faiths as somehow suspicious. What would Jesus say?
2. They believe that the 'separation of church and state' is a myth. A quote from Bob Jones of BJ University [?].
3. Racist remarks are a frequent form of attack especially from Rush Limbaugh, know for his right wing stance. He recently said, "Obama can put on a Negro dialect when he wants to." Huh? Your point? So can I put on a multitude of accents.
4. Some of their followers protesting the Affordable Care Act [AKA Obamacare] held signs saying, "get your government out of my Medicare!" The stupid award goes to...I ask you.
5. Their followers enormously approve of the crass remarks made by Rush Limbaugh, [felon and known misogynist] whose latest gaff was stating that the deep freeze in the mid west and east coast was caused by the liberal press. Excuuuse me? Does the press have powers that I'm not aware of?
6. The Tea Party Republicans have gerrymandered parts of the south to skew the voting so that it favors their candidates, they were thrilled when the Supreme Court tampered with the Voting Rights Act. The Democrats still won the '12 election.
7. They have terrorized older folks at the polls, demanding proof of ID and then not allowing them to vote. Some of these old folks had been voting for over 60 years. 
8. They have encouraged the 'right to lifers' to get in the face of women going for abortions. As if these women weren't traumatized enough, then they're harassed by these 'Christians'.
9. Bob Carlson right winger and council man from Ohio last year sent out a racist email for Christmas and when it came to light he replied, "I thought it was funny." Speechless.
10. Paul Broun a Republican House Rep. from Georgia [who is a creationist who all believe dinosaurs are a hoax] stated that Democrats and liberals "want to legalize illegal aliens so they can get on welfare and take over Georgia." Hmmm, has he been probed? Or better, what has he been smoking?

The KKK stokes the rage of men with hatred and fear, and from this last presidential election I believe that is exactly what the Tea Party and the religious right have tried to do. Happily it didn't work. Let's make sure it never works. Don't vote for hatred. 

Two movies come to mind that had the correct idea about combating racism: "The Producers" by Mel Brooks that satirized Hitler and "O, Brother Where Art Thou" by the Coen Brothers that lampooned the ridiculousness of the KKK. One of the most powerful weapons that can be used, as proven by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, is humor, pointing out the silliness that still exists in this country. The other weapon is the gift of education. Remember any educated man and woman knows that the only verifiable words that Jesus spoke [and I believe he was a Christian] are "love one another". That message just doesn't jive with the hatred and fear mongering that's out there.

We must all be brave and stand up and at least point and laugh at the ridiculousness of extreme messages that encourage people to hate and fear. Please feel free to pass this message or any other message along urging people to vote against hatred and bigotry.

*P.S I was enormously tickled to read an article that a man who is one of the most famous white supremacists had his DNA sampled only to discover that he is 1/16 black. That folks, is worthy of show-biz.


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