Mitt Romney won the white male vote by 80 percent, but that wasn't enough to win the White House. Now, Bill O'Reilly is crying a river on FOX News about how whites are losing their majority in the United States. In the next few weeks or months, the pundits and columnists across the country will continue to explore issues related to the future of whites in America and some like Rush Limbaugh and other right-wing extremists will use it to further divide America. They will exploit every opportunity to plant fear in the heart of white men which won't benefit anyone, not even the GOP. So what would this fear really create?
If you have never seen the 2002 documentary "Bowling For Columbine," you've missed out on learning a great deal about the history of guns in this country and how they relate to white men's fear of people of color. From the moment blacks were emancipated in 1863 there was a race for whites to acquire guns. By 1871 the National Rifle Association (NRA) was established. The documentary shows some funny representations about how afraid white fathers were that their daughters would become entangled with black men. These fathers and brothers were determined to "protect" their white women from black men.
Gun sales in the U.S. had a dramatic increase right after President Barack Obama was elected in 2008. The NRA warned its members to protect "their" right to bear arms. Now that that same black man has again been re-elected President, perhaps the same trend will continue and gun ownership in America will continue to rise. This is something to worry about. The irrational fear of people of color is leading thousands of predominantly white men to join extreme right-wing militias throughout the country to prepare for a war against their government, some even calling it a "race war."
Of course, not all white men who voted for Romney will now go and join a militia. And not all white men that dislike the increase of minorities in their communities will do so either. But we have many Americans leaving on the fringe -- the loner types; those very sensitive white males that feel that the whole world is falling apart and that they must do something. Those folks should give us pause. They are easily recruited through extremist websites, bulletin boards or forums. Hate on the Internet is alive and well and it's easily propagated. It's a sickness and a cancer that builds in their hearts and minds, just the way it was designed to work by the infamous leader of hate: Adolf Hitler and his Nazi movement.
The Southern Poverty Law Center keeps a close eye on these types of extremists, but it's up to the FBI and other federal agencies to monitor them and keep the general population safe from those rampages that we read about on the news. These white males can snap at any moment and create chaos where one least expects it. And that is the danger from unfounded fears many have of people of color, which only breathes armed hate groups all around the country creating an environment that is unsafe for everyone, no matter who you are or your background.
What the pundits on radio and TV are doing is basically feeding extremists' hate. Every word spoken that seeks to separate Americans, goes deep into the conscious of these disturbed men who up in some mountain, embrace their guns even tighter. The thing that white Americans should really be afraid of is not a black President, illegal or legal immigrants, gays, or green people -- it's fear itself. This has been told to us before. Fear and ignorance breathes hate, and hate creates violence.
If we want safe streets, neighborhoods, schools, and churches, confront your fears -- your prejudices. Deal with them any way you can -- seek therapy if necessary, but don't allow yourself to be infected by hate. These days we cannot read any comments on articles without seeing some hateful message targeting particular groups in our society. It's a sign of how hateful many people in our society have gotten. We may not be able to do anything about them, but we can do something for ourselves and others. You can reach out to your neighbor, put aside differences, and learn. Learn.
