The Diversity Projekt

You have No Clue!

August 21, 2009 // 2 Comments »

CAUTION: This post contains graphic photos.

I have been following the health care debate, if you want to call it that, and find myself increasingly disturbed and disgusted by the lack of decorum and common sense.  While I was quite amused by the ways in which the manipulative and disingenuous ways of the political and religious right were playing themselves out on the national stage, I have grown increasingly alarmed by the dangerous rhetoric that has emerged over the last few days. I would like to believe that the political elements powering this monster are unaware of the inevitable ramifications of going down this road will lead us to. However, I am jaded enough to know that they are keenly aware and even intend for such destructive outcomes. So, I am throwing my commentary into the pot!

I come from the country that actually had concentration camps and gas chambers – Arbeitsdorf, Bergen-Belsen, Berlin-Marzahn, Bretenau, Buchenwald, Dachau, Flossenbuerg, Hinzert, Kauferin/Landsberg, Langentein-Zweiberge, Malchow, Mittlebau-Dora, Neuengamme, Niederhagen, Ohrdurf, Osthofen, Ravensbrueck and Sachsenhausen.

I come from a country where more than 6 million, Jews, blacks, Roma and other ethnic groups were murdered because they looked, believed and acted differently from the desired norm. I come from a country that to this day persecutes people who are different, a country in which the NPD (Nationalist Party Germany aka Neo Nazis) continues to feel empowered to wreak havoc on religious and ethnic minorities. Why shouldn’t they? Our political leaders and law enforcement rarely feel inclined to condemn or curb their actions.

The country I came from did this:

…and this:

ohhh…and this:

Those of you who liken Obama to Hitler and compare this Administration’s attempt to provide all Americans – rich and poor, young and old, white, black, latino, asian, mixed – with access to quality health care, to the policies and “services” provided by the Nazi regime, are reckless, deplorable, and vile!

I try not to write blog posts when I am angry. Experience has taught me that it rarely ends well. But, I am angry and I am going to break this rule tonight. The escalating lunacy leaves me with few other options, at least viable ones that will allow me to sleep at night. Can we even call this insanity a debate? At first the grand standing at town hall meetings seemed predictable, silly, pathetic. It clearly smelled of the beltway machine, not grass roots mobilization.  And then came the references to Nazi German, Pol Pot, Stalin and the like. If this weren’t extreme enough, these lunatics begin to show up at town halls armed with semi-automatic weapons. Has the world gone mad?

Yesterday, a woman asked Rep. Frank, a Jew, why he was supporting Obama’s Hitler-esque policies. Not like the semi-automatic fun slinging, hate speech shouting tantrums weren’t enough, but this really does go too far! You wave your bibles and guns but have no sense of decency, propriety, core values, morals, ethics,…common sense! You need to think before you allow for such stupidity to leave your mouth. At least contemplate (if not comprehend) the ramifications of your words and actions. Tens of thousands of Americans are living survivors or descendants of survivors and victims of the Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge, Stalin’s Gulags. You cannot even begin to comprehend the suffering countless human beings endured under these abominable creatures.

I am most disturbed by the lack of condemnation coming from the GOP camp.  Their silence, and at times approval, of these fear tactics and lies, will eventually lead to disaster. It is not a question of “if” but “when”! This will not remain an exercise in rhetoric of violence, but will eventually escalate to violent acts. When that happens, the GOP will be to blame! Get your people under control before someone gets hurt, or worse yet, is murdered.

First it’s this:

And this:

Left unchecked, it will turn into this:

and…this:

With that being said, let me tell you a bit about Nazi Germany! Obama doesn’t want to kill grandma, your second cousin twice removed or your dog named Buddy! There are no death panels, abortion mandates, or forced sterilization. I came  from a country that did this, got a slap on the wrist and still, without any ramifications, still discriminates against people within its borders who look, believe and act differently from what has been put forth as authentically German.

The right would like to scare everyone into believing that the intent of the Obama Administration is to replicate this.  Such notions are abominable and reprehensible! If anything, the right is using  chapters out of Hitler’s book – inciting fear, condoning hate speech and violent rhetoric. It isn’t a far leap from this to committing violence against an imaginary and artificially constructed enemy! What other message can be construed from bringing an automatic weapon to President Obama’s town hall meeting?

Now, before the NRA gets bent out of shape – I grew up in a house with guns. My dad is a hunter and has a fairly extensive collection.  I support the notion that law abiding citizens (without criminal records) who have a license to carry, have the right to purchase fire arms. I don’t condone their use as a symbolic threat against the President of the United States, or any other human being for that matter. There is a direct connection, in the US and in Germany, between symbolic, verbal and phychological terrorism and the actual performance of a violent act. So, don’t tell me that you are packing heat as a mere exercise of your constitutional right to do so! This is disingenuous at best!

I am going to call this for what it is – Bullshit!  This is political terrorism, plain and simple!

I am about to launch a series on hate groups and activities in the US and Germany! Stay tuned, I am far from being done with this!

Posted in Politics, Racism

Swirl’s Mission – Front and Center

April 11, 2009 // No Comments »

As many of you know, Alexis Jeffcott and I recently launched the Philadelphia Chapter of Swirl.  We host a monthly Pot Luck, a time for swirlies and allies to get to know each other in a relaxed atmosphere. Several exciting events are in the works as well.  We are hosting a fieldtrip to the “America I Am” Exhibit at the National Constitution Center.

Another conversation we have been having – Loving Day events.  In the past, Swirl Chapters have functioned autonomously from each other and from Swirl National. We hold monthly calls to keep each other informed about local activities and idea sharing. In an effort to build our holistic capacity, we began discussing the possibility of  coordinating Loving Day activities and possibly entering into collaborations with local organizations. In short, capacity building.

What is Loving Day?

Loving Day is an educational community project. The name comes from Loving v. Virginia (1967), the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized interracial marriage in the United States. Loving Day celebrations commemorate the anniversary of the Loving decision every year on or around June 12th.

Mission Statement:

Loving Day’s mission is to fight prejudice through education and to build a sense of community among people who engage in meaningful interracial and intercultural relationships.

As we were pondering options, the shocking reality of Swirl’s relevance once again reared its ugly head!  While creating community is of utmost importance, challenging convetional notions of race and combating prejudice, racism and bigotry is our central aim.

We have Obama as president, yet still live in an America where racism and racial violence – HATE CRIMES – run rampant! Last week, a California woman was the victim of race and bigotry because she had two children with a Black man. Swirl posted a solid public statement about this atrocity. I have posted it below.

Stay tuned for a Philadelphia Loving Day announcement!

RECENT HATE CRIME SHOULD PROMPT US TO SEE THE REALITY OF RACISM

Jen Chau, Founder and Executive Director of Swirl, Inc.
April 10, 2009

Imagine swastikas and racial epithets spray-painted on your car right outside of your home. It’s scary and very upsetting.

This describes precisely the recent hate crime committed against an interracial family in Los Alamitos, Calif., two days ago (Gleeson, 2009). As frightening and disconcerting as this is, it is important that we shake off our blinders and acknowledge the reality of racism today. We can wonder how something like this would happen in a “nice” neighborhood. We may question why these things are still happening when we have an African-American president of mixed heritage. And we could ask ourselves why people still see color.

Or we can use our time instead to try to understand how racism continues to function in our lives in this country.

Many of us don’t want to admit that this overwhelming problem still exists. Many declared that racism was dead in the days after Obama’s presidential win. Though change and progress are exciting, we cannot believe that racism has completely disappeared. Sometimes it is subtle and sometimes it is dormant, but we cannot be fooled into thinking it no longer exists. The shock that some of us display when a hate crime occurs is evidence that we as a people exist in severe denial. Yes, President Obama is in the White House; and we still have a huge battle with institutional racism ahead of us (e.g. the huge achievement gap in our urban public schools hasn’t magically disappeared yet; a byproduct of institutional racism).

We must hear this terrible story and feel challenged to realistically acknowledge and think about our problems with racism on the individual, cultural and institutional level. The shock that hate crimes still happen doesn’t help us to confront the problem because we are so busy thinking about the incident as a strange occurrence or an outlier. If we believe that these types of crimes don’t happen in certain areas, we don’t feel compelled to address them. Why spend time problem-solving around oddities? However, if you look at the amount of hate crimes that we experience in a year across the country, you begin to see that strange occurrence after strange occurrence adds up to a very real pattern. In 2006, there were nearly 8,000 reported hate crimes (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2007). The truth and the reality remains that racism continues all around us, still. We need to confront this truth honestly and realistically instead of lulling ourselves into believing that racism happens in pockets and doesn’t have a real hold on us.

In this moment, let’s follow Teri Barber’s lead – if she is willing to leave her vandalized car in the street for all to see, we should be able to confront the truth of racism along with her.

References:

Federal Bureau of Investigations (2007, November 19). Hate crime in the U.S.: New stats and a continuing mission. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov07/hatecrime111907.html

Gleeson, G. (2009, April 8). Epithets painted on mixed-race family car. Retrieved from http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=6752164

Posted in Diversity, Racism