A little light dispels a lot of darkness – Rabbi Schneur Zalman
If you have not heard of Mark Williams, I am about to introduce you to him, and while it is not a pleasant introduction I believe it is necessary.
Mr. Williams’s infamy is growing, specifically surrounding some statements he made recently. He is not only a member of the Tea Party movement but apparently a leader as well, and personally, if I were ever so inclined to become a member of this organization, which is highly unlikely, this would make me resign.
Mr. Williams is obviously a blind and ignorant bigot, but what surprises me is the lack of outcry from fellow Tea Partiers about his disgusting statements. While many bloggers, pundits, and reporters have shed some light on Mr. Williams and his comments there has been very little, if any, protest from the people who classify themselves as Tea Party Movement Members.
It causes one to believe that all Tea Partiers are of like mind, does it not? What is it that they say about birds of a feather…?
I believe that this kind of behavior just builds bigger walls keeping us separate and creates a chasm that is almost impossible to negotiate. These people do not want anyone or anything to change, for better or worse. They fear change because they are ignorant. Apparently, differences are not something to embrace, and rather they prefer a mirror image version of America that reflects their small mindedness and bigotry.
I understand people disagreeing with the current administration, honestly I do. I myself found a great deal with which to disagree in the former administration’s policies; however, I did not think that name-calling and bigotry were necessary then, nor are they now. This is not about disagreeing with the current administration…it is about the manner in which people disagree.
I do not believe that our founding fathers ever intended that our tenant of free speech to be used for name calling and tearing down others. How much longer are we going to stand by quietly and allow this kind of behavior to continue? It is wrong, it is evil, and it needs to stop. How do we ever expect to succeed as a nation if this is how we think? We need to stand together, unified, against bigotry in all of its forms.
We all need to look beyond the color of someone’s skin and look deeper than that. MLK Jr. said it best; we need to look at the content of their character. A shallow character uses ugly, degrading language. Mr. Williams’ character content is sorely lacking and has a level of bigotry that makes Archie Bunker appear tolerant and open-minded!
There are, I am sure, many who give lip service to how wrong it is to be a bigot, however they align themselves with this movement, and in doing so, their actions cause their words to ring hollow.
Perhaps no amount of light will fix the problem. However, in the bright light we can clearly see how unattractive bigotry really is.
I got sick to my stomach when I read that “letter” to Lincoln. Where’s the outcry indeed? This is the kind of representation the tea party wants. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t tolerate this guy.
A very well written post, Kat. Bigotry is sadly on the rise and sadly people. There is a huge battle here in our school board where there is a movement to “support neighborhood schools” which means stopping the busing and desegregation of the public schools which is pretty darn racists in most people’s eyes. Sad.
One day we will get past this.
Amen.