Post
by Morkonan » Wed, 16. Aug 17, 23:43
Just a note:
TLDR at the bottom:
As far as I am aware, there are no activist groups espousing a return to "slavery." AFAIK, most of these extremist groups would, at their farthest reach, want anyone not of their race or belief system to leave "their" country or simply "be gone." That's about as extreme as many of them publicly go. Some may, indeed, wish to do violence to further this, but I don't think any of them believe or espouse that the United States take up slavery as an institution. If there are some, they're a handful of wingnuts...
IMO, most of the people in the South who defend Confederate monuments do so in order to protect what they consider their "cultural heritage." That heritage, as viewed by most (Again, as far as I am aware as a "Southerner") is not one that recognizes any legitimacy for the institution of slavery, for anyone, but one that emphasizes honor, a duty to stand up for one's "Rights" (Basically, as a collective acting on behalf of their State), sacrifice and the hardships endured during that period.
Racism does exist. It will always exist. Some people attempt to promote it, because it fits their world-view. Most decry it. Some that speak out against it still have their own racist behaviors and beliefs, but they may even recognize those to be "wrong" while still holding onto them... Go figure.
However, there are those who are looking to take advantage of this event. They're taking advantage of it by turning it on its head as some sort of "Righteous Cause." They're using it, not for what it was, two widely disparate groups, with widely spread beliefs in each, that knew what they were evoking and that planned violence as a response to opposition, presumably violent opposition.
And, now, the media is having a field day. "Heroes abound! Workers of the world, unite! Look at these heroes! Oh, the humanity!" blah, blah, blah...
This was an event where stupid people did stupid things and where one person, most stupidest of all, carrying so much rage, decided to attempt to randomly murder someone with his car and, unfortunately, succeeded.
Why does stuff like this happen? Well, in my opinion, it's partly due to the fact that people yearn to be part of something, anything, that acts to affirm their own world-view and their own opinions on heartfelt subject, no matter how stupid those opinions are and no matter how blinded they are by personal experience. And, they flock to the news, that laps up their advertising dollars like honey, and wait for a "sign" that, finally, someone, somewhere, is standing up for them, personally, and "doing something about it." So, either they'll attend these functions, on one side or another, lead them or cheer them on.
And, because either they're so biased they won't bother to think their own opinion through or that opinion has been confirmed to them enough, legitimately or not, they feel that wasting energy in attempting to reason some measure of truth or falsehood form it is just not worth it...
It feels much better to think of oneself as acting upon something than being acted upon.
So, the most irate or moronic pick up sticks and look for someone to hit with them.
TLDR: Move along. This is not the righteous and holy fight for justice that some are trying to make it appear to be.
