Welcome to the wonderful world of
Mr. Alexander.
(Written in response to a piece by Arno Holschuh detailing, rather virulently, the actions of one lone dissenter at a public rally against "Hate Speech" held in Bloomington, Indiana 11/98.)
Sympathy for the Devil's Disciple.
"Diversity"... that's the buzz word that brought us from the lowland plains of Oklahoma to the mystical forests of Bloomington... less than two weeks ago. The curious mixture of bible belt ethics and front line right wing social explosiveness made it difficult to get a handle on the state where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, and so the lure of a town built on tolerant academia held breathless promise... cultural, political, sexual, religious and fiscal diversity...
And, hey now, less than ten days go by and the entire town mobilizes against "hate" and it's various mongers.
Rallies in the town square and signs of solidarity posted on trimmed lawns... most of the papers which required our parental signature during the painless school registration process for our two children were concerning "hate speech" and "harassment".
On the surface, this is wonderful news.. manna from some sort of sixties peacenik heaven to those of us who have done our ponytailed time in the south and survived the double whammy of dual Nixon and Reagan terms.
I watched the rally on the news.... I wanted to be there, but I was torn in civic duties between the town square and a PTO meeting and in the end, I decided to protect my children from the cold at one and the fund raising at the other, and so we attended neither.... but I watched the news reports later that night and the next day, and I read the print media recaps... and when all was said and done I was left with a certain degree of..... "queasiness"
It appears that "hate will not be tolerated" here in the tolerant state of DIVERSITY.
Academics, long the bastion of freedoms of thought-even the most offensive thought imaginable, were right up there on the podium, either voicing genuine concerns or making sure to catch the bandwagon... or perhaps some of both.
Let's not confuse the point here...
hate is indeed reprehensible, vile and seemingly evil...
but I don't need to "hate" bigots, to publicly humiliate them simply because of their misguided, uninformed fears and their need to voice their odious opinions.
And, perhaps more importantly, the driving underground of any freedom of speech issue is ALWAYS disastrous in the long run. It is isolationary and produces hidden men and women with hidden faces and hidden agendas.
History has taught us that we cannot battle what we cannot see, that hidden armies can impress new followers by misrepresenting their size, strength and power.
As the recently collapsed Soviet Union gave further demonstration to the foolishness of repression as a social system, so must we learn our lesson, even here in enlightened Indiana.
The young man left alone at the conclusion of the rally last Tuesday held an important message on his sign....
"No Hate Speech means No Free Speech"
If you believe as I do, that people who hate have got it all wrong and are reacting more from internal fear of the differences amongst all of us than any genuine ideological doctrine.. then let them talk, let them gather, let them approach us and our youth with their message... let it be exposed to the light of logic, and prey to the sound of sense. I want my children to be aware that some folks just are too damned scared silly of anything different and most importantly that these folks are few and foolish. I want them to view these socially challenged misfits as being capable of change... that by befriending and educating them, my own children can do more to reduce the long term effects of hatred than all the rallies in the world.
It is my job, and my responsibility as a parent and as a member of society to ensure, not just that my own children are free from the scourge of hatred but that they accept willingly the task of removing the fear found at the root of most bigotry from even the most hardened of heads.
We do not end hatred by confronting it in rallies of public solidarity.... that merely produces argument, resentment and a smug sense of accomplished mirage which fades rapidly as we are forced to actually DO something about it.
I, nor my family, do not tolerate hate, in any form. But that's not enough...
Ending hatred takes much more than rallies, speeches, solidarity and embarrassing the weak willed and frightened. It takes, as do all things worthwhile, work and vigilance, humor and understanding.
I extend, to Mr August Smith the hand of education... perhaps one of those political and academic animals and maybe even some of the "news at eleven" types will publicly allow him to present his views, that they may be examined in the light of day rather than driven under a rock to acquire the weapons of invisibility and a peculiar kind of martyrdom.
In enlightened Bloomington, it's chest puffed with pride in "Diversity" with a capital "D", let's be truly diverse... let's acknowledge that some folks have thoughts and opinions which are detrimental not just to society as a whole but, in the long run, to no-one as much as themselves and their own sense of dignity and humanity.
As an afterthought, my child brought home from school today a couple of pieces of paper offering me food... sort of a help-the-school-by-buying-food from this particular commercial enterprise. The food looked good, and not overly expensive and it did claim to kickback ten percent to the school. But I am almost more offended at the use of my children as unpaid salepersons for this particular commercial enterprise than I am at the concept that someone's offensive ideas may be seen by them during school hours or on school property. At least I can combat the untruths and foolishness of hatred and bigotry with the larger chunk of society solidly in my corner, but when the school endorses, as it often does along with scouts and churches the use of children as fundraisers by guilting parents and friends into making purchases from commercial enterprises I am somewhat defenceless to explain to them why such behaviour is wrong... civicly and socially fundamentally wrong and I am almost always alone in my corner.
Just a thought.
If you found any of these pieces educational or at least amusing, drop a note of encouragement to
and maybe more such pieces will appear....
and
Remember to hug your Kids
To return to the Mr. Alexander main page
| This Inner Zine site is owned by Mr. Alexander. Want to join the Inner Zine? |
|---|