This editorial column written by Maria McCoy was previously published in the print edition of The GRIP.
I have seen post after post on social media regarding the removal of the General Lee statue in Charlottesville. Many people are glossing over the real issue and focusing on the statue removal. If you look to Facebook, you’ll likely see all sorts of memes addressing that issue. I’ll tell you what you won’t see – memes telling protestors that there would be others there to protest them, but everyone that could do it is at work.
You know I’m right, so quit shaking your head. When the Black Lives Matter Movement sends protestors that is what people say. You see multiple comments from various sources implying that the BLM protestors are all unemployed and living off welfare.
Why aren’t we seeing that now with the protests in Charlottesville? Because the protestors are white. That is the very ugly truth of it. As a society, we have told ourselves that racism no longer exists because we had a black president, and yet at the same time, as a society, we have allowed ourselves to believe that black people are less.
That black people live primarily off welfare. The “ghetto” or the “projects” is where black people live. That black people all have weird names. That black people do not have jobs. That black people are not as smart as white people. That black e all gang members. That black people aren’t clean.
And then there are the things you don’t say, but feel. How you feel flabbergasted when a black person drives by in a nice car and your brain tells you it’s because they are all drug dealers. Or when you see a successful black person and you get upset because they are making it and you are barely scraping by. You get irritated and even angry. You do this because you have been conditioned to by a society that would prefer to make you that racism no longer exists.
Stop believing the lies that society is selling you because it makes you feel better about how black people are treated in America. You may not be racist, but society is, and the ideals you have learned from society are as well.
Every time you make one of the above statements, or any other statement regarding any race, you are displaying racism, and it would be remiss of me to forget ANTIFA. Antifa is an alt left group that shows up specifically to incite violence in the name of “protesting oppression.” These people are also hateful, despicable members of our society who show up and counterprotest anything that is considered right wing, assaulting others and leaving thousands of dollars in property damage in their wake. They are not your friends. They are not standing up for the oppressed. They are simply there to stir the pot to bring even more discord throughout our society.
These most recent protests aren’t because the statue is being removed. That’s just the cover story they are using to propagate their agenda. That’s the broad story that people are using to garner support from Trump fans. The narrow version, and the one most people are overlooking, is that these are white supremacists.
They aren’t conservative protestors objecting to liberal agendas. They aren’t Republican protestors. These are white people, wearing hoods and Nazi symbols, using our President and his supporters to spread hate. These are not good people. Not one of them could possibly be good because they have hate in their heart.
We have protestors using the Nazi salute that hailed Hitler. Do you want to sit here and tell me Hitler was good? Do you want to associate with someone who thinks Hitler was a swell guy? Of course not, because you are not racist. Well, your heart isn’t, but your actions are. Your brain is because you have bought into the Kool-Aid society is selling.
So, why are you allowing liberal news media sources like Fox News and CNN to influence how you react in the face of inherent hate? Stop doing this. Stop responding exactly how the media wants you to, just because you feel obligated to do so by the standards and rules society has set for you. Stop believing the lie that racism is from the old days. It’s alive and well, right here in Spalding County. Retrain your brain to think differently. You can change the outcome. In fact, we are the only ones who can change the racism in society and we do that by speaking up every time it is displayed. Speak up and unequivocally denounce it every single time.
Please understand that your silence is just as damning as the ones who are touting their superiority over anyone who isn’t white. Our President didn’t realize his mistake when he got on national television and denounced “both sides” of the aisle, meaning the right and the left. He tried to make up for it later, but the damage was already done.
In one speech, his supporters rallied around him and unknowingly (maybe some knowingly) around the white supremacist group. Our President must also realize that he is now the leader of all groups in America, not just the ones that support him (but that’s another article for a later time). So, I’ll go ahead and say what Trump should have said in the first place – there are two sides to this. One side is full of vile, hateful, ignorant and intolerant racists and the other is everyone else who decides to stand up against them.
