“Unfriended” By The Right

Yes, I’m on Facebook. Yes, I post there fairly regularly. Yes, I have some friends. Apparently, I have one less than I had a week ago.

This individual and I have know each other for a long time, 30 years. But as happens, people move, people change. So it’s really no surprise that our life paths have led us to different interpretations and political views. Debate is healthy.

Unless of course, one side of that debate is being informed by the far right.

The email string that apparently triggered my banishing from this person’s friend list started with a discussion about the piece on Rachel Maddow’s show regarding Shirley Sherrod. I had posted about it, sharing it with the folks on FB. I soon got a message:

Leo How is the NBPP story not about racism, hear one of the perpetrators run his mouth off about hating white people? Shirley Sherrod told a story of “redemption” while still saying things like refer him to one of his “kind” , while the NAACP crowd laughed at the story prior to her speaking of any elements of redemption.

Of course, he missed the point, that being that there is now this disguised racism, one which many appear to be blind to. I responded:

These stories all pushed a narrative of “look at the racist black people”. Where is the “expose” of Stormfront – the white supremacist group that is backing Tea Party candidates?

The Sherrod story was a non-story completely fabricated by Breitbart and pushed by Fox. He had the video for three weeks, but amazingly chose the day that Wall St. reform was being passed to release it? Why? It wasn’t to verify the story – he made it up. He intentionally edited the video to make it look the opposite of what it is.

The point of the piece is that there is a concerted effort to try to scare people into believing that there is some nefarious plan afoot, that all blacks hate all whites, and there is a need to be scared. And to deflect criticism of obvious racism by whites in the same breath. It is a concerted effort by individuals, and by a media organization that calls themselves “news”, but is no more than a propaganda machine – a motive that has been supported and promoted by its owner and execs.

FYI – I haven’t edited or changed a single word of this exchange. You see it as it appeared.

Apparently, my attempt to clarify wasn’t good enough.

I think that is the point of the article, but, the ACORN story had to do with corruption and nothing with race. The Sherrod story is difficult as she ostensibly tells a story of redemtption while using racist language. the NBPP is obvious racism. Who would conclude all black people are racist? That is just plain stupid, as stupid as all white people are racist, yet Mark Williams is a racist asshole. The article is very misleading and frankly the majority of racists in this country are on the left not the right. I do not think the Wall Street “reform” had any thing to do with it, but, what a travesty of a bill, the same duo of idiots who helped create the crisis “fixing” it.

As you can see, the perception of this individual has a distinct ring to it. The discredited – and fabricated – ACORN story, the completely overblown National Black Panther Party story, the attempt to still paint Shirley Sherrod as a racist. Also, the perception of the left being far more racist. And a swipe at the Wall St. reform bill to boot.

Then, before I had even finished reading that message, I got this one:

Wait unless you mean black people cannot be racist? Which ironically is a racist view point, and naive.

And there it is – the “reverse racism” claim. I didn’t say, or imply, that there are no black racists. My suggestion, that there are people who think all blacks are racist, was dismissed as ‘stupid’ – even though it’s a fact. The blindness to the racism comes right out. No one could possibly think like that, right?

So instead, it must be me, the middle aged white guy, who is racist because I believe there are whites who think all blacks are racist. Still following me? I’m racist because I think some whites are racist.

But, I tried to be restrained:

ACORN? Oh the “expose” that was “broken” by – wait for it – Breitbart? Using edited video (and badly at that) from Republican kids “undercover” that ended up being NOT what they claimed? That ACORN story?

Isn’t it curious to you that Breitbart seems to keep coming up with stories that involve black people doing something wrong, that somehow always have video, that always seem to have been edited specifically to fit his narrative, that end up being false? And isn’t it curious to you that Fox continues to go back to the guy and push his stories?

Who would conclude all black people are racist? Open your eyes. They’re all around you. But again, it’s the implication that they are. The seed of that thought, the way the stories are shaped to push that narrative, by a news source that far too many trust.

Your distrust of the left is all too apparent, but why is it that to find a story of “racism”, guys like Breitbart have to dig for a 2-year-old video of a mid-level person in the USDA, but folks on the right pop up like weeds – and proudly so? They are unrepentant, and growing in number. Except now, they use the “reverse racism” model – they’re just speaking out against those black racists, dontcha know…

You know I didn’t say anything about blacks being incapable of racism. And insulting that you would insinuate it.

Prove your statements. Show that “the majority of racists” are on the left. You can’t, but go ahead and try. Racists come from all stripes, but they tend to congregate in the extremes. And they have been congregating on the right for a long time. They’re proud of it.

Which again, goes to the point of the story. The knee-jerk reaction to the Sherrod story came because the left denounces racism, and didn’t want to appear soft on the issue. They stupidly jumped at Breitbart’s bait and didn’t look into it. They should have considered the source before passing judgment. The right then made the story about the admin jumping on Sherrod, and eliminated the discussion of Breitbart’s fabrication.

And that, dear reader, is the last I heard from this individual. After not seeing any of his right-wing updates for a few days, I checked my friend list. Lo and behold, he’s gone.

But I don’t feel bad about it. If anything, I feel sorry for him.

I don’t know why he got to the point of fear that he feels. To him, government is “Big Brother”, always trying to take away what’s his. Business is to be trusted before government. The states should be left to their own devices.Buy gold now – the worldwide crash is coming! Be sure to stockpile those canned goods for the collapse of society under the pressure of socialism.

The list goes on. The fear is immense. During one conversation, he actually tried to equate the persecution of blacks to conservative Christians, saying he knew what that discrimination was because he gets it all the time as a conservative Christian. He was trying to make the claim that he is persecuted as a conservative Christian.

This is what the right has been working on for at least a generation. To get their base so fearful of everything, that they MUST follow the right’s lead to restore the country to its moral foundation.

It’s calculated and cold. It plays on one fear, and builds on it. It preys on folks who are scared for their livelihood, for their belief system. It gives them a boogeyman to be afraid of, to blame their problems on. It uses religion, money, race – anything it can to create a fear. Whether it’s the illegal immigrant crossing the border to take their jobs, or the Muslim believer that doesn’t share their faith, they are given something to fear.

And it is repeated, over and over and over again, until the lies are taken as gospel.

It is propagated by Fox News, who push the narrative. And by their reticence to call out Fox, the other media outlets are complicit in helping the narrative along. Instead of pushing back and exposing the facts, they maintain a false sense of “balance”, airing two sides of a story, even if one is pure fantasy.

The civil discourse, the informed debate, is gone. The email exchange above is an example. When called about the falsehoods, there is no back-up, just and end to discussion. Facing the facts forces an examination of the belief systems that support the fear. And that is even scarier to the folks who are already afraid. If they see the facts, it means their belief system is flawed. That is more than they can handle.

So the conversation is cut-off.

As I said before. I’m not upset. I am sad. Maybe one day, he’ll realize he’s being played. I can hope.

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