Offend, Demonize, and Belittle

First they came for the Socialists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) was an ardent nationalist and prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last 7 years of Nazi rule in concentration camps. Niemöller, like most of his compatriots, was largely silent about the persecution and mass murder of the European Jews. Only in 1963, in a West German television interview, did Niemöller acknowledge and make a statement of regret about his own antisemitism.

A "stereotype" is a generalization about a person or group of persons. Stereotypes are developed when we don't obtain all the information necessary to make fair judgments about people or situations. Society often creates and perpetuates stereotypes. These stereotypes lead to discrimination and persecution.

Some prejudice has been passed down from generation to generation. It is usually the case, however, that the passions of hatred against minorities by members of the majority are stirred up by charismatic leaders who exploit latent hatreds for their own political ends. These leaders are called "demagogues," and they depend upon propaganda and disinformation to achieve their ends. Many demagogues have been successful because people want to believe there is a simple cause of an existing problem. Through the use of propaganda techniques, persuasive arguments are made that one group or another is to blame for all the problems.

During the 2008 elections I surfed the net, and visited many forums where people were encouraged to express their opinions concerning the candidates, and the election issues. The one thing I noticed above all else was whenever someone spoke out against the policies, political track record, or ideologies of Obama his supporters invariably responded with accusations of racial bias. People who disagreed with Obama's stance on abortion, or any other political statement were called stupid, racist, and a host of other nasty expletives. It really didn't matter what the subject being debated was, the response was usually the same. There rarely appeared a comprehensive argument establishing the Obama supporter's basis for advocating his/her candidate. The mechanism used to defend their candidate was very simple: Offend, demonize, and belittle. I might add that this same rhetoric has been used in the Obama presidency: Target and offend a specific group or idea, demonize everyone who agrees with them, and belittle the intelligence of anyone who questions.

In 19th century Europe, Jews were classified as an "inferior" race with specific physical and personality characteristics. They were highlighted as a "foreign element," which could contaminate the native stock and culture and potentially dominate the population economically and politically. This long-standing history provided a seed-bed for the Nazi ideology and program of genocide. The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Roma (Gypsies), the disabled, and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others) as well as blacks. Others were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals.

In the 1800s another group was deemed a political threat to the powers that were. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints felt that Jackson County, Missouri was a place where they could settle and worship as they believed without persecution. However, Missourians hated the Mormons, (a bigoted label placed upon members of the church), mostly because they presented political opposition to those already inhabiting the area. The Mormons came in such a big group that the people who lived there originally thought they would hold political domination over the issues that required a vote. This is one of the reasons the people of Missouri tried to withhold the vote from the L.D.S. settlers at that time. The people of Missouri assumed these Latter Day Saints would vote in a block vote and decided to prevent them from doing so. This erupted in violence when the Missouri governor issued the famous “extermination order” which allowed the legal extermination of the Mormons, and they were driven again by mob violence in the dead of winter to Quincy, Illinois. This extermination order of Governor Boggs, and the era of the holocaust during the Nazi Regime have one very prominent concept in common. Both political entities ordered the extermination of a people.

The concept of equal rights for women is as old as the ancient Greeks; the Greek philosopher Plato advocated for equality between the sexes in his Republic. Few civilizations have even approached this equality, however, and it has only been in modern times that women have been granted legal rights which were routinely applied only to men. Actual equality in society has lagged far behind legal emancipation, many believe. The idea that all men and women are created egual is supposed to be the foundation of our Republic. Sadly, however, that equality is still a dream we are striving to attain. Women have had to fight for the right to vote, to own property, to go to school, to be paid the same as their male counterparts, and to serve in the armed forces, to name but a few. The plight of women seeking equality is mirrored by those who have suffered racial inequality.

Part of the problem is information handed down from generation to generation such as is the case of anti-semitism. Other prejudices are fostered by people being perceived as different from the majority. Skin color, religious beliefs, ethnic traditions, and lifestyle become the target of distrust simply because they are different. We end up with a socirety where one religion is pitted against another, wars are waged because of skin color, lifestyle choices become the target of hatred.

In this freedom for all society that our forefathers conceived the negative ramifications caused by fear and bias towards one another is usually propogated, and promoted by Demagogues with one ulterior motive; a power grab. If they can stir up emotions and fears among a group of people who in turn will rise against another group they have accomplished their goal. While the groups fight amongst themselves about who is right, and who is wrong the demagogues slide in under a cloak of darkness, (if you will), and win whatever power they sought.

Mr. Niemöller's words ring true today just as they did back in the day they were uttered. It is our duty, and our obligation as American citizens to speak out when we read or hear aspertions being cast because of religious, racial, sexist, or any other type of bigotry. It is also our duty and obligation to look around to find the demagogue behind the movement that creates such situations and to expose their ulterior motives. When the athiest comes to take away religion, or when a preacher comes to take away another's right to believe as they choose I will be there even though I may disagree with both of them. I will also defend the right of equality for everyone no matter their race, their sex, or their ethnic background. This is not a view limited to a right or left wing political belief. It is an American belief.