An Asian woman pushed to her death on the tracks in New York City by a Black man.
A Neo-Nazi rally in the streets of Orlando, including a banner with the GOP catch phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” surrounded by two swastikas.
Two New York City police officers, both Hispanic, gunned down during a domestic violence incident.
The removal of books from libraries, including To Kill A Mockingbird and Maus, as part of a backlash against Critical Race Theory.
Brian Flores suing the New York Giants and the NFL, alleging that Black coaches such as himself are discriminated against in pursuing coaching opportunities.
Whoopi Goldberg suspended for two weeks from ABC’s “The View” for her comments that Holocaust was about “man’s inhumanity to man” and “not about race” among other statements.
An Olympics being held in China, which is accused of holding more than 1 million ethnic Muslims in concentration camps.
Georgetown University’s law school placing a newly hired administrator on leave after he tweeted that President Joe Biden would nominate not “the objectively best pick” but a “lesser” Black woman to be the next Supreme Court justice.
A plaque honoring baseball legend Jackie Robinson that was vandalized in Georgia.
A 44-year-old British Pakistani armed with a pistol, took four people hostage in the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, TX, during a Sabbath service.
These are just some of the headlines that we have all seen over the last couple of weeks that have dealt with the rise of discrimination and hate as related to race and religion. The issues touched on above didn’t start with George Floyd but have been at the forefront ever since.
During the pandemic, we have been dismayed by the rise of people from opposite sides of an issue no longer listening to each other and instead retreating to the extremes who hold the same views as themselves. This in many ways led to the U.S. Capitol Riots last year. It’s an extremists echo chamber—driven by news outlets and social media—on both sides that is corroding our society.
The truth is that it is up to us to make the change. Start by acknowledging the concerns of people who do not share your views and attempt to find common ground. Confront hate and prejudice when you see or hear it. We need to encourage a society where an exchange of beliefs is promoted and not shouted down.
Most of all, be an example of how you act and speak to the ones you love and who care about you. There are good people on both sides of every issue that want solutions. In politics, support those who are looking for common ground to move our society forward. No one party or person has the right answer.
Prejudice will never be fully eliminated—it’s unfortunately human nature to mistrust “The Other.” But we can go a long way towards lowering the temperature in the U.S. by Republicans and Democrats working together and, most importantly, finding solutions to addressing hate based on race and religion that is on the rise.
The U.S. has always prided itself as being a melting pot that celebrated different religions and nationalities. We must work together to ensure we are all treated equally no matter the color of our skin or the God we pray to. That is the true spirit of America that we must get back to.
“There are good people on both sides of every issue that want solutions.” Some, like those Nazis in Orlando who unfurled swastikas and who recently beat up a Jewish man, want the “final solution.” No, both sides do not hold equally valid opinions. One side does not include “good people.” The sooner we realize that this is false equivalence, that the past circumstances, for example during the era of Eisenhower Republicans, when most of the GOP stood for some different positions, but still within the realm of what it means to be American/decent, are no longer applicable, the sooner we can put a stop to the legitimization of expressed hatred.
Sorry, but I’ve decided I can no longer “abide such stupidity” as exhibited by those objecting to vaccines and even mandates for vaccines.
Sadly, today’s GOP is the Trump Party of Hate, mobilized (indirectly) by Putin to bring down the Western Alliance so that increasingly disillusioned Russians (whose birthright was stolen by Putin and his gangster friends after the brief Glasnost, and whose life expectancy has decreased and whose gross national product is less than California’s) from looking with envy on foreign lands, their freedoms, and their prosperity.
All Putin and his gangster friends offer Russia is poverty and hate, and they want to spread it to dismember the NATO alliance. They succeeded mightily with subverting the NRA and the GOP through Trump, a person thoroughly unfit to be president or even someone who cleans up dog droppings.
Sadly it’s not so much about race or religion. It’s about politicians putting us against one another for their political gain. A party that is not currently in power can not be content with the current climate. It goes against logic. If everything is fine, they can’t tell you what they can fix. So what do they do, they magnify current events to a fever pitch in conjunction with the mainstream media to anger people into voting for change, even when change isn’t warranted. It’s time for the American people to concentrate on what the politicians and the news media are saying. Don’t take one news medias word on truth. Do your due diligence and read multiple views on the same story so that you can form your own opinion, no not be a sheep of the press, or the president himself. When people speak, they have their own agendas that they are trying to achieve. Be smart enough to realize that when it smells like shit, it’s shit!
And todays democrats are the dopes on their cell phones who walk into walls, too blind to realize they are being led by a puppet content on destroying America for their own monetary gains. Make no mistake about it, the reason they hated trump so much was because they didn’t get the kickbacks they were used to when they were spending all our tax dollars on bullshit.
I dont think its possible to reconcile these diifficulties at this point. On one side we have a group of people who want peace and liberty and want to be left alone to live their lives as they see fit. These people are the true traditional conservatives and libertarians. RHino republican senators are not in this group ,. On the other side we have a group of people that are for ONE THING: POWER. These are the liberals and progressives. This would include the three commenters above who think that conservatives and trump supporters are bigots and “white supremicists”
You see we attain freedom by leaving people alone to live their lives as we see fit. Here’s an example: vaccines: these vaccines do not stop infection spread and transmission so there is no reason to mandate them for anyone. Mr “herb” above is completely ignorant about the basic facts of the vaxxes. Covid is not dangerous to most people except the very old and sick. And masks dont work and have never worked. So there is no reason to mandate masks for anyone.
Next: taxes: the united states grew to the greatest most powerful and literate country on earth with no income taxes. The right of a free people to keep the fruits of their labor should be protected. Taxes around the country are much too high everywhere and need to rolled back.
The federal government of the US is much to big intrusive and powerful and many departments need to be eliminated for instance: the depts of transportation, education, housing and urban development, energy and more all need to go.
Medicare is bankrupt, social security is broke.
Generally the federal gov of the US is an overextended bankrupt failed institution. These are indisputable facts. yet when someone like me points this out and suggests that we should allow people their liberty, I am attacked as a bigot and a “hater”.
When people are in an abusive relationship with irreconcilable differences the BEST solution is a DIVORCE. The only way to “fix ” the problems we face is with a break up of the US into separate countries. The european uniion is going to break up. AND there is NO reason that NATO should even exist anymore. contrary to what some said above.
I have no desire to live in a society with people who express such ignorant opnions as the ones above. You all can have corrupt seedy dirty NJ and CA and NY and MA .. Lets see how long the progressive agenda lasts until there is no food and fuel. Meanwhile let the liberty loving folks settle in a new republic, one that actually honors truth and justice
Wonderful editorial and well needed! I have always lived among Republicans and Democrats. Never ever at odds as they are now. It is tearing our country and democracy apart. I wish we could turn back time and change that fateful election that brought hate and racism to the forefront and that has deeply hurt and divided us. When we have seen the White Supremacy and Neo-Nazi groups grow to alarming rates we all should be horrified. The Great Generation fought the Nazi’s. The atrocities of the Holocaust will forever be a deep dark stain on humanity. And our great Civil Rights leaders helped bring about laws to end racist practices that were harmful to our fellow Americans. We have a responsibility to snuff out this hate and divisiveness for our future generations. We must!
Dirk, please, move to Texas, which already wants to secede. Why are you even living in NJ? Go, already.
Dirk- you ignorance is appalling. Vaccines don’t prevent infections? What studies can you sight? Check out who dominated hospitalizations.
No taxes? Check out where the money goes. You want to cut out the military? How are people going to survive economically without social security and Medicare? These are 2 programs that actually work.
Get an education Dude!
Dirk has taken the cool aid,not ready to discuss just accuse.
Amazing; This paragraph is awesome, well writ & says it all: “During the pandemic, we have been dismayed by the rise of people from opposite sides of an issue no longer listening to each other and instead retreating to the extremes who hold the same views as themselves. This in many ways led to the U.S. Capitol Riots last year. It’s an extremists echo chamber—driven by news outlets and social media—on both sides that is corroding our society.” The Press & its News must never be silenced!! AND; It must always report the facts TRUTHFULLY!! SEE! The World has become T00 Small for’n the spreading of Lies & suppression of the Truth’s..//
it is a choice and no one should hold that much power to take away peoples choices and what foreign objects they want in their body, first the Vaccine then what comes next, A choice is part of our Constitution
We’ve had requirements for children to be vaccinated in order to go to school for many decades, and the result has been the reduction or elimination in adults of many deadly diseases, including polio, measles, mumps, etc. COVID vaccines are no different. We need to drop the nonsense of personal choice and remember that this pandemic affects everyone, that your choice to refuse to vaccinate may mean I can’t receive adequate hospital treatment for my non-COVID health conditions.
hate crimes did not just start and we cannot blame it on the Pandemic, it started with a man in office that wanted to make America great again and his idea of great did not include minorities of any kind, he incited and
spewed hated, he never denounced his heritage(how he was raised) he was proud to be a supremacist. It was a wake up for all of those that felt the way he did including those in so many professions(POLICE, LAWYERS, JUDGES,DOCTORS, NURSES, TEACHER, STORE OWNER) this list can go on.
Dirk, why don’t you move to the nation which you think has this–Russia–instead of polluting our publications with your lies.
I assume you include the black violence against Asians in your screed as “White Nationalism”. Dear G-d in heaven, how can you possibly take the two morons in Florida to be representative of anything other than TWO MORONS IN FLORIDA.
You demonstrate quite clearly the hate in your heart. Truly sad. One side burns down cities, assaults Police Officers and tells us lies are truth and of course if you question them, you are a racist or some type of white nationalist.. The other, as the man said, wants to be left alone. But I fear the future because as being demonstrated now in Canada by a real honest to G-d insurrection, you can push people just so far.
You mean like stealing money from the military to bild a campaign structure that can prevent only wandering wild life from entering?
Too long to follow, and just proclamation with no explanation. THis is nit the place to copy the right wing manifesto
You right, first vaccine , then MUMs vaccine, then forced to get driving license to drive, that restaurant can not serve dead horses meat and call it veal, than parents can not abuse their children. What the world is coming to???