Division in America: Don't Blame Donald Trump
Division in America has hit an all-time high. The recent event in Charlottesville has shown that the only things the hard right and the hard left have in common are violence, bigotry, and hatred. It is unfortunate that there are people who will support and join these groups that go against American values of freedom of religion and equality.
President Donald Trump is blamed because these neo-Nazis, KKK, and Alt-Right are his supporters, yet there is no blame of Bernie Sanders when one of his supporters shot Republicans just because they were Republicans. The double standard and one-sidedness are so glaring.
This past Tuesday, President Trump was called out because he had blamed both sides, something a New York Times journalist also said in an article. However, the Democrats, mainstream media, and others cherry-picked his comments, ignoring that he said, "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans." In other words, they should not be supported or welcomed anywhere in America, as Senator McConnell (R-Ky.) stated.
Star Parker, a conservative black activist, noted to American Thinker, "The president is correct in saying there is an Alt-Right and an Alt-Left. We cannot have an empowered Alt-Left and Alt-Right because that will get us into a civil war. Both sides are hateful. I find the Confederate statues deplorable because I am an African-American. I believe in states' rights, and feel local communities have the right to decide if they want them. Why must a part of America see the need to keep those reminders up, knowing what they represent? Local communities should determine if the statues should be dismantled and put in a museum."
Why didn't the press and those criticizing Donald Trump question the local authorities that refused to protect a synagogue that was 200 feet from the neo-Nazi and leftist demonstrations? Those worshiping felt vulnerable to an attack. There were Nazi websites that posted a call to burn the synagogue, after which the community leaders took "the precautionary step of removing our Torahs, including a Holocaust scroll, from the premises."
Those on the left might not call themselves Nazis, but they have as much hatred and bigotry as those on the Alt-Right. A march in Berkeley this year initially began as one that supported President Trump's agenda. But it quickly transformed into a bloody riot, where anti-Trump protesters punched, beat, and pepper-sprayed the Trump backers. An elderly man who wore a "Make America Great" cap was videotaped screaming on the ground after being pepper-sprayed.
The disgusting rhetoric of the neo-Nazis is very anti-Semitic. Other groups, such as Black Lives Matter, are just as anti-Jewish. People ignore their far-left manifesto that accuses Israel of genocide and apartheid. "The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and it complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people." Someone should take a page from Martin Luther King, who responded to a Harvard student's tirade, "When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-Semitism."
The singer Roger Waters compared the Palestinian plight to "what went on in the 1930s in Germany." He also had a pig-shaped balloon at a concert with the Star of David on it. Why don't the liberals demonstrate and call him out?
Alan Dershowitz noted in an article that "[h]ard left anti-Semites go after me for everything in the world." He discussed in an article how students at the University of Illinois passed out flyers calling for "the ending of white privilege, which starts with ending Jewish privilege."
He further commented, "That golden rule of consistency should be as applicable to political debate as it is to personal morality." He went on to say that people who do not criticize the left give them "a pass on their Jew-hatred because those who support them admire or share other aspects of what they represent."
Star has some advice for Americans: "Go back and look at Donald Trump's inaugural speech. He said he wants to make us strong again, wealthy again, and safe again. We should let him do it so we can become great again. The liberals do not want President Trump to accomplish his campaign promises. So they will do everything they can to obstruct. But so [does] David Duke, who has crawled out from his rock to disrupt the presidency."
Americans should not let these groups be emboldened. There is plenty of hatred to go around with the leftists and neo-Nazis. People should not stay silent, and they need to speak out, but it should be consistent against both fringe groups.
Don't blame Donald Trump. Instead, put the blame where it belongs – with those people who are arrogant, violent, and disruptive and seek mayhem. As Martin Luther King said, "I decided to stick to love; hate is too much of a burden to bear."
The author writes for American Thinker. She has done book reviews and author interviews and has written a number of national security, political, and foreign policy articles.