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Incendiary rhetoric needs rebuttal
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Incendiary rhetoric needs rebuttal
So you don't like being called a racist. Bet the president of the United States doesn't like exposing his wife and daughters to racism either.
Anyone who is paying attention has surely felt the rising anger in this country and the not-too-subtle call for violence from the fringe.
It began slowly in January with remarks about Michelle Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, going to live at the White House. The pettiest among us sneered that taxpayers were going to have to foot the bill for her upkeep. Then there was the flap over the first lady revealing her upper arms. And Mr. Obama was criticized for wearing too loose jeans. Had they been tight, someone would have complained about that too.
The mockery should have only stayed that picky. It didn't. Mr. Obama's school speech brought it all to a head.
There are a growing number of people who, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are worried about this palpable fury and the unthinkable happening.
Just last weekend, a so-called "tea party" was held in the nation's capital. It produced signs and slogans so hateful and racist that most news organizations would not show them.
Then there was South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson shouting "you lie" at Mr. Obama during a joint session of Congress. He apologized but later recanted it. He became a folk hero to the haters. Now, what happens if they decide his puffery on the subject is a call to arms?
This cannot continue in a civilized society. And, no, that's not censorship or curtailing free speech. It's having the good sense not to shout "fire!" in a crowded theater.
So, you say you don't think it's fair to be called a racist when you only mean to protest a political philosophy different from your own, and your only goal is to draw attention to what you think is flawed policy? Prove it.
Prove you have an open and inquiring mind. Stop lapping up and regurgitating the same tired talking points you hear from Rush Limbaugh, read on blogs or see on the "Glenn Beck Show."
For instance, in the letters to the editor last week, two writers referred to the same 1991 incident involving then House Majority Leader Dick Gephart, the Department of Education and President George H.W. Bush's speech to schoolchildren. A third reference to that same story came to my home in a letter the writer did not want published. That's just too much coincidence.
You also can prove you are not a racist by refusing to take part in conversations where misinformation is not refuted. Refuse to repeat it. Just say no to a racial joke or an ethnic slur.
You say you are not a racist? Then write to your political, religious, community and school leaders. Ask them to go on record denouncing the Rush Limbaughs and the Glenn Becks of the world, along with the swastika bearers and gun toters who would try to intimidate and stop civil discussion.
Tell your leaders they have a responsibility to call out the haters and demand that their incendiary behavior stop.
Then tell them -- and yourself -- that to remain silent is not optional.
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