Meet the moment's hateful, fragile fear with courage
By Robin Givhan / The Washington Post
The American president condemned the group of protesters who marched down a street in Columbus, Ohio, dressed in black and waving flags with red swastikas emblazoned on them. The angry group shouted racial epithets through their red face masks and videoed their progress as they paraded past quaint businesses that billed themselves as a woman-owned sportswear shop, an upscale hair salon selling sustainable beauty products and another one advertising deluxe denim.
The protest was small. Barely a dozen people were loud-mouthing their hate. It was nothing like the deadly Unite the Right rally that took place in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when an estimated 1,000 marchers holding tiki torches aloft proclaimed, “You will not replace us!” and “Jews will not replace us!”
But in some ways, the Columbus display was almost as bad. What it lacked in size and formal organization, it made up for in casual privilege. The display wasn’t out in the middle of a corn field, nor was it surrounded by security. The hate was just moseying along right there in the midst of middle America’s yoga pants, organic smoothies and acai bowls.
“President Joe Biden abhors the hateful poison of Nazism, Antisemitism, and racism; which are hostile to everything the United States stands for, including protecting the dignity of all our citizens and the freedom to worship,” read the statement from the White House. “Hate directed against any of us is a threat to every single one of us.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-meet-the-moments-hateful-fragile-fear-with-courage/