“The timing is not good. We are black. We are Muslim. We are Somali. We are all the negative stigmas.” – Omar Hassan, speaking in reference to the country’s increasingly intensified anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim fears
I believe, with all my heart, that the vast majority of Americans are not hateful, racist, bigots. I do honestly believe this. But we have a problem, a problem compounded by the election of a man who had the support of the KKK and other hate groups that dot our landscape. His election gave these group a voice, a voice that was once faint but one that always bubbled under the surface. That voice is no longer faint. It is loud and becoming louder and I am afraid.
“Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.” – Alex Haley
We like to think that we have made great advances in race, immigrant, sexual preference, and religious differences relations. But in reality we haven’t. All the laws, statutes, and regulations may offer some measure of order or protection but they don’t change hearts that hate.
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am afraid. I am afraid that more people will jump on the hate bandwagon. That our natural human reaction, our inability to defy our peers, our neighbors, the “mob mentality” that becomes so prevalent in situations like this will grow from small isolated but vocal groups and spread like a wildfire across our country.
“It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.” – Confucius
And now hate has a platform, a medium that allows it to jump from state to state, city to city, home to home, the internet. One hateful individual sitting at their kitchen table in some isolated and remote location in North Dakota can reach millions upon millions via Facebook, Twitter or some other sort of social media. With a simple hashtag one individual’s hate can infect countless lives. Small seeds of rancor scattered across the landscape have the potential of growing a forest of hate that could take generations upon generations to clear a path through.
“I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.” – Booker T. Washington
I am afraid. I am afraid that those of us who want to clear a path through hate will be overwhelmed by the job at hand. Overwhelmed by the support hate has in our communities, our country. Overwhelmed by our leadership who will turn a blind eye towards the existence of hate and the groups and people who encourage it. I am confident that we are the majority, but will we speak up? Will we risk the scorn of neighbors?
“Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” – Rosa Parks
Hate requires no courage. Speaking out against hate requires not only courage but strength in our personal convictions. Are we prepared to speak out against hate? Are you?
how strange. I wrote about Islam today and that it is a lack of education that promulgates the fear.
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We fear, we hate what is different
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I was moved to write a similar post today…must be something in the air. I find myself frustated, sad and downright cross, not necessarily in that order
A very poignant post.
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Thank you!
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From a Gospel POV, from a mercy POV, it’s essential to love the hater.
The theories set forth from the 1960s forward to explain racism, such as that it’s merely taught (explicitly or implicitly) or that it pertains to mere dislike of those who look different, no longer hold water for me. Real understanding needs to consider even the effects of neurotransmitters, e.g. oxytocin, which is implicated in both loyalty (a good thing) and clannishness or “othering” (a bad thing).** At the time I did the post “Rat empathy”,* I supposed there were a fascinating difference betwen empathy in rats and empathy in humans. Today I see no difference at all.
I’ve been wrestling with the propspect of a post to be entitled, “Between hatred and honesty.” On my radio show, I intended to tolerate various expressions of what might be called hate speech, for reason that (1) if these people aren’t heard, they become dangerous (Cf. Timothy McVeigh) and (2) the thinking must be exposed, see daylight, if it is to be deconstructed.
Honesty is for me a foremost thing.
In a recent WaPo piece,*** Henry Farrell opined that, in short, in the Trump election white folk basically declared, “We’re done lying.” And in his view, that was a very bad thing.
*http://williamatell.wordpress.com/rat-empathy
**http://williamatell.wordpress.com/oxytocin
***https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/11/19/trumps-election-has-undermined-political-correctness-thats-a-huge-problem
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Fabulous and worthy of a repost. Thank you!
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Thank you!
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Reblogged this on CD-W, Author and commented:
Great post about choosing love over hate, acceptance over racism.
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http://blog.dictionary.com/xenophobia/
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That’s crazy. Thank you for sharing that.
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Thanks for sharing so honestly. I have a lot of fear right now too. Cried twice actually, post election.
The only bright thing I have heard about the rising expressions of hatred is that it affords us the opportunity to practice listening with an open heart, finding out why people are so afraid. (hate=fear, right? ) Source: OnBeing.org
If we can manage to hear each other – without judging – maybe we can manage to heal as a nation/world. Hmmm…sounds a bit lofty as I write it but I am interested in the idea.
I love your title, The Booming Business of Hate. Here’s hoping a counter-movement of compassion gets as much media coverage!
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I think it would be silly to think that we can overcome all the seeds of hate that are being planted. But, we don’t have to give them a place to grow. Thank you for reading.
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Reblogged this on sherriemiranda1 and commented:
I am very concerned for all my friends & family who are not white, not Christian (well, that is me too). I am concerned about the women & children of our country & our world. 😔😒😞😣😢
Peace,
Sherrie
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Thank you!
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I’m with you brother. I wanted to crawl into some type of spiritual vacuum after the election and ignore the world of hatred and bigotry growing around me. Guess what? Doesn’t work. You and I have been challenged by a power much greater than us. Passivity is a wonderful concept but, as Elie Wiesel exhorted, neutrality gets people killed…..(well actually not his exact words but the message is there) THANK YOU SO MUCH, your article has brought renewed purpose to my existence. Write on!
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“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” – Elie Wiesel
As always, thank you for reading and adding valuable to content!
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This is a knowledgeable, wisdom filled and powerful blog posting.
I would encourage you to repost on sites like Tremr.com and KOS.com. We, American’s, and people of the world must see how hate is an evil that simmers beneath the foundations of life.
To combat hate, the comments of every one of the authors of the quotes in your blog posting, are messages from our past as we move forward knowing hate is always lurking to reveal its ugliness by whatever means it finds ignorance.
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Feel free to repost what I have written as you please. Thank you for reading and for your interest in my words.
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I just had to re-blog this.
XxX
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I reblogged this on my personal blog too – 🙂
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Thank you, I am honored 🙂
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🙂 Great !
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I get your fear and all this is true – your quotes show what we can do to counteract hate and divisions. I think this was a really interesting post because you not only spoke of the problems we face in our society but you gave us the solution -in quotes – it’s all there in passed down from historical people. Who are we going to follow this time? can we become conscious enough to learn from our past mistakes ?
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You are right, the knowledge is there for the taking. But, can we open our eyes and our hearts to accept it? Thank you for reading and for taking the time to share your thoughts.
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Together we can – this is what I reblogged on my personal fb page
I had to reblog this because the writer of this post not only made me aware of the prevailing problems in our society, today but he gave really interesting clues -solutions even from quotes of historical figures. We have the answers to our problems. We need to find the write quotes, articles and voices to truly start a collective and conscious movement of change towards a hopefully one day more peaceful world. What does that world look like? If you can’t – we can’t even imagine a world that is different to the one we live in now – we will stay with what we have. Great post.
Take care and you are welcome. It was a thought-provoking and empowering read.
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