On Rosh Hashanah: Recommitting to Solidarity in the Face of White Supremacy

[saidsimplesimon]

Thursday, September 21, 2017
By Brant Rosen, Truthout | Op-Ed

When Temple Beth Israel -- a large Reform synagogue in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia -- opened for Shabbat morning services on August 12, 2017, its congregants had ample reason to be terrified. Prior to the "Unite the Right" rally held in town by white supremacists and neo-Nazis that weekend, some neo-Nazi websites had posted calls to burn down their synagogue.

The members of Beth Israel decided to go ahead with services, but they removed their Torah scrolls just to be safe. When services began, they noticed three men dressed in fatigues and armed with semi-automatic rifles standing across the street from their synagogue. Throughout the morning, growing numbers of neo-Nazis gathered outside their building. Worshippers heard people shouting, "There's the synagogue!" and chanting, "Sieg Heil!" At the end of services, they had to leave in groups through a side door.

Of course, this story did not occur in a vacuum. It was but a part of a larger outrage that unfolded in Charlottesville that day, and part of a still larger outrage has been unfolding in our country since November. I think it's safe to say that many Americans have learned some very hard truths about their country since the elections last fall. Many -- particularly white liberals -- are asking out loud: Where did all of this come from? Didn't we make so much progress during the Obama years? Can there really be that many people in this country who would vote for an out-and-out xenophobe who unabashedly encourages white supremacists as his political base? Is this really America?

Yes, this is America. White supremacy -- something many assumed was relegated to an ignoble period of American history -- is, and has always been, very real in this country. White supremacists and neo-Nazis are in the streets -- and they are being emboldened and encouraged by the president of the United States.


http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/42017-on-rosh-hashanah-recommitting-to-solidarity-in-the-face-of-white-supremacy

If this has already been posted, please ignore the repeat. The outrageous candidates in Alabama "are being emboldened and encouraged by" it (that shall have no name).