Hate relies on approval of those who look away

THE OLYMPIAN | • Published October 23, 2009

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Obama-hate propaganda was really the idea of those pesky liberal agitators, according to crazy-like-a-fox media. In reality, this accusation should not be taken as a joke. This is no longer about being a Democrat or a Republican. Party lines cannot excuse the use of such blatant hate. This is about race and the underground reality of ignorance boiling up and over where normally it lies hidden beneath the veneer of unity and brotherhood of man. Most of the time, and as long as it stays there, we don’t have to acknowledge the distasteful prevalence of prejudice in the United States.

The secret to seeing this truth: Don’t keep your eyes wide shut. Former President Jimmy Carter’s brave declarations got him a lot of hate mail. He knew he would. Remember, in pre-war Germany it took the tacit permission of those who looked the other way to allow right wing fanatics to take over and use their hate to try to eradicate an entire race. Sure, we can continue to pretend we don’t see the ugly, that doesn’t mean it is not there.

Therapists have a word for people who place their own sentiments or perceptions, onto other people. It’s projection. It seems as if there is a collective projection of fascism and bigotry aimed at someone who is neither.

I am astounded by the amount of misinformation pouring forth from the people who blame our president for everything wrong, including the current economic crisis. They also are screaming and kicking all the way to universal health care that would benefit practically everybody. Government always has been big and I have never felt freer, so if Obama is taking away our freedoms, who had them before?

Maybe it is the same contingent who says they are concerned, values-driven Americans and defend their dislike for Obama as well thought out and logical, certainly “not about race”. So what does the funny toothbrush moustache recently depicted on anti-Obama propaganda posters, mean? The only implication is that Obama is an anti-Semitic fascist. That sounds race related to me. Unless, like those who famously only read Playboy for the articles, this is only about the politics?

The propaganda machine in this country recently chose to implicate Obama with Adolf Hitler because Hitler reflects a hate more virulent and deadly than any other. It is a threatening reminder of what racist right-wing fanatical fascists with a little power are capable of.

I mean, there are so many other dictators to choose from, even from that same era, Benito Mussolini for example, In fact, picking that one guy proves that it always was about race.

I know that those with privilege and those whose entitlement goes unquestioned, (unlike that of the president of the United States) are often blind to these obvious signs. It doesn’t matter how much you tap your heels together and wish it wasn’t so, or whether you prefer to turn up the volume on the Rush Limbaugh show, or turn down the volume on Jimmy Carter; hate is what it really is and we should pay attention.

Mireya Beltre, self-employed as a guardian ad Litem and interpreter, is a member of The Olympian’s Diversity Panel. She can be reached at bmireya@q.com.