Dear Editor,
As one who lived for a while in the United States when racism was overt, dangerous and widely acceptable, I have never been overcome by the romantic notion that racism had ever died out there. What I do know is that it has again become an overt topic since Obama was elected and more so since he was re-elected last week, since the confidence the racists had that they would have rebounded, received a serious blow on November 6, 2012.
What had happened in the past four years was that to be considered polite - one had to do the "politically acceptable" thing and not admit, do or say anything publicly to indicate that one was living in the past, except of course if one was a proud member of fringe organisations like the Ku Klux Klan. So most white Americans had become experts at hiding it, especially the more educated ones. That excludes people like Denise Helms from Turlock, California, who posted on Facebook that "Another 4 years of this (N word) ... Maybe he will get assassinated this term."
What had happened in the past four years was that to be considered polite - one had to do the "politically acceptable" thing and not admit, do or say anything publicly to indicate that one was living in the past, except of course if one was a proud member of fringe organisations like the Ku Klux Klan. So most white Americans had become experts at hiding it, especially the more educated ones. That excludes people like Denise Helms from Turlock, California, who posted on Facebook that "Another 4 years of this (N word) ... Maybe he will get assassinated this term."
When interviewed by the New York Daily News, Helms said she was not racist! I put her among the less educated since not only is she not smart enough to camouflage her obvious racism, but also she is an employee at an ice cream parlour, so I assume she is a high school dropout. I also assume that it is mostly red neck dropouts who have taken their cue from Donald Trump (Trump declared on election night that the US was no longer a democracy!) and have been signing petitions for their states to withdraw from the federation of United States.
According to "We the People" https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions, petitions have come in from Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maine, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, etc. No one needs to take these seriously, however, since, for example, the population of Maine is over 1.3 million, whereas the red neck petitioners are a mere 1585. Iowa has a population of 3.06 million while petitioners are 1483 and that is the general trend.
These red necks therefore are a tiny, tiny minority and most likely aligned to the Ku Klux Klan or some other extremist group. However, it is imperative for the US Secret Service to ramp up its security, for all it takes is one madman to change the face of history. We have to accept that crazy, anti-social elements will continue to exist throughout the world as long as this planet is inhabited by humans.
Joan Williams
Kingston 10
gratestj@gmail.com
Racism rears its ugly head in America
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As one who lived for a while in the United States when racism was overt, dangerous and widely acceptable, I have never been overcome by the romantic notion that racism had ever died out there. What I do know is that it has again become an overt topic since Obama was elected and more so since he was re-elected last week, since the confidence the racists had that they would have rebounded, received a serious blow on November 6, 2012.
What had happened in the past four years was that to be considered polite - one had to do the "politically acceptable" thing and not admit, do or say anything publicly to indicate that one was living in the past, except of course if one was a proud member of fringe organisations like the Ku Klux Klan. So most white Americans had become experts at hiding it, especially the more educated ones. That excludes people like Denise Helms from Turlock, California, who posted on Facebook that "Another 4 years of this (N word) ... Maybe he will get assassinated this term."
What had happened in the past four years was that to be considered polite - one had to do the "politically acceptable" thing and not admit, do or say anything publicly to indicate that one was living in the past, except of course if one was a proud member of fringe organisations like the Ku Klux Klan. So most white Americans had become experts at hiding it, especially the more educated ones. That excludes people like Denise Helms from Turlock, California, who posted on Facebook that "Another 4 years of this (N word) ... Maybe he will get assassinated this term."
When interviewed by the New York Daily News, Helms said she was not racist! I put her among the less educated since not only is she not smart enough to camouflage her obvious racism, but also she is an employee at an ice cream parlour, so I assume she is a high school dropout. I also assume that it is mostly red neck dropouts who have taken their cue from Donald Trump (Trump declared on election night that the US was no longer a democracy!) and have been signing petitions for their states to withdraw from the federation of United States.
According to "We the People" https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions, petitions have come in from Hawaii, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maine, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, etc. No one needs to take these seriously, however, since, for example, the population of Maine is over 1.3 million, whereas the red neck petitioners are a mere 1585. Iowa has a population of 3.06 million while petitioners are 1483 and that is the general trend.
These red necks therefore are a tiny, tiny minority and most likely aligned to the Ku Klux Klan or some other extremist group. However, it is imperative for the US Secret Service to ramp up its security, for all it takes is one madman to change the face of history. We have to accept that crazy, anti-social elements will continue to exist throughout the world as long as this planet is inhabited by humans.
Joan Williams
Kingston 10
gratestj@gmail.com
Racism rears its ugly head in America
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