MountainMornings

The President signed a Covid 19 Hate Crimes Act on Thursday to address the rise of violence against Asian Americans. And before the ink could dry, we are hearing about more and more Anti-Semitic incidents from coast to coast. Biden Tweeted this morning:

“The recent attacks on the Jewish community are despicable, and they must stop. I condemn this hateful behavior at home and abroad — it’s up to all of us to give hate no safe harbor.“

@POTUS Twitter

Hate is a nasty word. It tends to turn itself around and destroy a person from within. It’s the opposite of love and compassion; but it can be just as compelling. The Flapper could certainly hold a grudge, and so did Grandma Ada. Both were positive, optimistic women but once aggrieved they would never forget. I am still a work in progress, still trying to let go of old wounds.

Both of my children witnessed a Nazi swastika drawn for their amusement – once in school and once on a school bus. That kind of hate I’d never experienced, although Bob was familiar with such tropes. The Bride was too young to know what it meant, and the Rocker knew enough to be angry. And that’s how it starts, the slow, insidious, incremental introduction of hate. This person is different, this person is less than, this person deserves to be mocked.

And when I hear Republican Marjorie Greene compare the Speaker’s admonition to wear a mask on the House floor, to Hitler’s use of Jewish stars during the Holocaust, well it’s easy to dismiss her as a lunatic sitting out on the fringe. But she has about one third of the country listening to her every word, sitting out there with her on the extreme right fringe. People who believe January 6 was a normal tour day on the Hill, that there are good and bad people on both sides of Charlottesville – you know at Lee Park, where white supremacists were shouting,

“Jews will not replace us.”

When we visited an elderly aunt in County Mayo, Ireland years ago, I could tell the Troubles were not completely forgotten. She told me about a visit to a shoe store up north, and how poorly she was treated. I’m wondering now if things may percolate after Brexit. Will the simmering subplot of Catholic Ireland vs Protestant UK start to unravel? Certain foods must now go through checkpoints creating paperwork and confusion.

“Despite a government promise that there would be no impediments to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain (GB) after Brexit, new checks have been causing disruption to supplies of food, plants and online deliveries.“

https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53724381

Fear and hatred of a race of people or a religion has created conflict from the beginning of time. Parents teach their children to “hate” people because three generations before the Turks murdered Armenians…. or just add any and all different wars to that equation. One would never wear orange on St Patrick’s Day. Ada would never buy a German car. Who would dare to fly a Confederate flag in the People’s House?

If I were Christian, I might say I was called to love Marjorie Greene. That I should turn my cheek to my enemy, I should pray for her. But my adopted religion tells me to never forget, that my children would have been stolen from me in Nazi Germany. And that silence and indifference will not quench hate speech, it will inflame the rhetoric. I can’t exactly say that I hate Greene, and Republicans like her, but I do have a severe case of contempt.

Here we are with our Left Coast cousins, can you tell the Jews from the Christians?