John Walker
Opinion Editor
I was sitting at my desk on Tuesday evening and minding my own business as usual when a certain event came to my attention. The National Socialist Movement, otherwise know as Neo-Nazis, have decided to hold a rally at the state capitol in Frankfort on April 21.
To be clear, I have no problem with the freedom of assembly and speech as provided by the courts and the Constitution. The National Socialist Movement is well within their rights to march and make all manner of hate speech. Now I am going to exert those same rights by saying nothing the National Socialist Movement stands for, or any other hate group for that matter, is welcome in my community, whether it’s my hometown or the state capitol.
And what is the NSM’s supposed reason for this rally? They want to address “illegal immigration, crime, the recession, white civil rights and other critical issues facing our nation.” In other words, they want to yell and scream about diversity and real civil rights. The same civil rights that allow other races and ethnicities to be treated as equal human beings.
What I could do at this point is rattle off a few numbers about how many hate groups are in America and how terrible it is when we aren’t nice to each other. Instead I will only say this nonsense has to stop. I am sick and tired of other white men telling me I am a victim and the only way to have a better life in this country is to put everyone who doesn’t look like me, act like me and doesn’t agree with my politics down into the gutter. I have had a good life, just as most Americans have, and there is no reason for us to live in the 21st century and still have to put up with 1940s ideas about racial politics.
A few years back this same movement made its way into Knoxville, Tenn., to make their voice heard and a few friends of mine had a wonderful idea of how to deal with them. Instead of standing in the street and yelling about racists and how terrible they are, this unique bunch of Appalachians decided to mock the NSM for everything it was worth. They dressed up like clowns, calling themselves the Klu Klux Klowns and proceeded to chant slogans like “white powder!” while throwing fistfuls of flour at one another and screamed “White showers!” while wrapping themselves in shower curtains. My favorite was a sign that read “KKKowards.”
After all was said and done these young people had turned a hateful event into a carnival of the ridiculous. Because that is all racism is. It is purely ridiculous. I encourage everyone who is free the weekend of this event to make their way to our state capitol and show these real clowns just how funny they are.