September 6, 2017
Page 13
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O PINION
The Old General Fought for an Ugly Cause
But even he
could lend
some wisdom
to Trump
This surprising side of
Trump popped out several
days after the Charlottesville,
Va., attacks by raging white
supremacists. In a presidential
tweet, he said: “Sad to see the
history and culture
of our great country
being ripped apart.”
by J iM h ightower
Yes, very sad to
While our presi-
see a resurfacing of
dent’s moral char-
raw bigotry ripping
acter seems stuck
so viciously into
somewhere
be-
America’s historic
tween boorish and
attempts to create a
brutish, it’s only
fair to note that he also has an culture of mutual respect and
unity in a nation of extraor-
aesthetic dimension.
dinary diversity — e pluribus
unum, as our national maxim
puts it.
Oh… wait. That’s not what
Trump meant.
He was actually advocating
keeping the statues of Con-
federate champions of rac-
ism — pieces of bronze and
granite that publicly celebrate
America’s shameful history of
slavery, secession, and white
supremacy.
The KKK thugs invaded
Charlottesville in violent ob-
jection to the city’s planned
removal of a statue of Robert
E. Lee, who led the southern
states’ war against the United
States so they could keep en-
slaving African Americans.
Trump’s lament, then, was not
about the attack on America’s
better angels, but merely about
“the removal of our beautiful
statues.”
Apparently, it never oc-
curred to him that most Amer-
icans don’t consider those
statues either “beautiful” or
“ours.”
Ironically, Robert E. Lee
himself opposed erecting
Confederate statues across
the south: “I think it wiser
not to keep open the sores of
war,” he said, but instead “to
obliterate the marks of civil
strife.”
We could use a leader with
such wisdom today, when big-
ots feel newly empowered to
incite civil strife across our
nation.
OtherWords columnist Jim
Hightower is a radio commen-
tator, writer, and public speak-
er. He’s also the editor of the
populist newsletter, The High-
tower Lowdown. Distributed
by OtherWords.org.
Should I go that Neo-Nazi Rally to Fight Back?
When the level of
dehumanization is
extreme
by s tePhanie v an h ook and
M ichael n agler
When we hear that the Neo-Nazi
movement is coming to our town, most
of us naturally feel called—or pushed--
to some kind of action. But not every
action is going to be effective, espe-
cially if we are walking into a situation
where the level of dehumanization is
extreme—where people are prepared
to harm or kill others. How then can we
draw from the power of nonviolence in
a situation of escalating violence?
First, we have to understand that
nonviolence is strategic, principled and
revolutionary. It answers to the vio-
lence around us by offering, in a disci-
plined manner, its opposite.
Nonviolence is by no means passiv-
ity. It is not inaction. And, we would
include, it should not be shortsighted,
reactive action. When using this pow-
er we should know what we are taking
on and be prepared for encountering
hatred without the fear of being over-
come by it. Remember, the power of
nonviolence comes from not opposing
the real well being of anyone, even – or
especially – when we have to oppose
their actions.
When we choose to go against our
“fight or flight” response, we can find
creative, nonviolent ways for respond-
ing to “Unite the Right” rallies that do
not escalate violent tensions with more
violence--whether defensive or offen-
sive.
The real answer to violence is not
counter-violence, however strong-
ly we’ve been conditioned to believe
that, but the demonstration of a count-
er-force.
1. When a hate group is coming to
town, instead of directly confronting
them and falling into the trap of cha-
os they want to create, instead of pro-
viding them the publicity that blows
their importance out of proportion,
we can engage in other activities and
get the media pointed at those, such
as a pro-peace concert or dance con-
test at the same time as their meeting.
Or failing such an alternative, just
plain ignore them – the way the good
people of Montgomery just ignored
a normally terrifying Klan ride in
1958. It shows that we are reclaiming
3. In all this, though, it’s important
to not unthinkingly imitate past sen-
sational nonviolent actions or tactics.
Each situation is different, and we need
to explore what is at stake and plan for
a variety of possible outcomes. May-
be we’ll get arrested by the police, but
what happens if we don’t? How will
we take care of each other if we do? If
someone is hurt? If we don’t ask these
kinds of questions, we leave the door
open to violence, which can only add
fuel to the fire.
Make no mistake: nonviolent action
takes courage, planning, and intelli-
Human nature is such that even though we may
not see the effects of such a demonstration in the
short term, it always works under the surface to
change the hearts and minds of our opponents – even
those deeply conditioned by hate (and feeling deeply
inadequate, though they themselves may not be
conscious of it).
Human nature is such that even
though we may not see the effects of
such a demonstration in the short term,
it always works under the surface to
change the hearts and minds of our
opponents – even those deeply condi-
tioned by hate (and feeling deeply in-
adequate, though they themselves may
not be conscious of it).
Here, then, are some of the things
we can do.
our spaces with humanity and safe-
ty while acting together as a mature,
loving community.
2. Another creative solution that can
deflate the vehemence of a hate rally
is to gather the community to donate
money to a group like the Southern
Poverty Law Center for every square
foot covered by the hate group. Turn
their gatherings turn into nonviolent,
anti-fascist, pro-peace fundraisers.
gence. It’s the best and quite possibly
the only way to really counter these
manifestations of hatred and ignorance
that are disfiguring our society.
Stephanie Van Hook and Michael
Nagler write for PeaceVoice. Van
Hook is executive director of the Met-
ta Center for Nonviolence; Nagler is
professor emeritus at UC Berkeley and
co-founder of the university’s Peace
and Conflict Studies program.