Bigots are coming to the Bay Area; just ignore them
The bigots are coming to the Bay Area. Just ignore them. Seriously.
It’s time for those who deplore racism, xenophobia and religious hate, whether they’re Democrats, Republicans or political independents, to start controlling the narrative.
The best way to do that is not engage. Resist the temptation to confront the bigots. Don’t take the bait. Instead, hold a peaceful affirmation of diversity and tolerance at the same time — but somewhere else.
Don’t provide more fodder for President Trump’s deplorable false equivalency, that there are “bad people” on both sides and that those who confront white nationalists are just as culpable.
As alt-right provocateurs target Berkeley and San Francisco for demonstrations later this month, those repulsed by their message need to think smartly about how to react.
First, understand that racist fringe groups are coming here because they know they can get a rise in the liberal Bay Area — and confrontation plays directly into their script. The more violence they provoke, the more publicity they garner, serving only to lend greater voice to their despicable cause.
The best advice comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, which recently released a guide for responding to such events on college campuses:
“When an alt-right personality is scheduled to speak on campus, the most effective course of action is to deprive the speaker of the thing he or she wants most — a spectacle.
“Alt-right personalities know their cause is helped by news footage of large jeering crowds, heated confrontations and outright violence at their events. It allows them to play the victim and gives them a larger platform for their racist message.”
Unfortunately, too many Bay Area progressives can’t seem to resist the verbal confrontation. And the problem is exacerbated by a fringe group of anti-fascists dressed in black hoodies who come armed for physical fight.
We saw it when alt-right activist Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley in February. We saw it at Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in April.
In both cases the rumble became the story. And, like Charlottesville last weekend, the altright got what it wanted: Publicity. It’s a powerful recruitment tool.
Moreover, direct confrontation provides fodder for the president’s “two sides” narrative, allowing him to sidestep questions about his divisive dog-whistle political pandering to bigots.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that for Trump this is about more than just politics. It’s about his own bigotry. He lacks a fundamental understanding of history, of why a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is more offensive to African-Americans than statues of slave-holders George Washington or Thomas Jefferson.
In a some-of-my-best-friendsare trope, he repeatedly reminds us that his son-in-law is Jewish and his daughter converted. But he seems unaffected by the bigots’ chants in Charlottesville on Saturday that “Jews will not replace us.”
It’s the sort of open anti-Semitism my immigrant father experienced before he fled Poland in the 1930s, and that I remember in more subtle forms from my 1960s childhood in Oakland.
The list goes on: Muslims, gays, Mexicans. In each case, Trump, who has led a life of privilege, lacks the understanding and empathy so critical for providing the moral leadership expected from a modern-day president.
It’s little wonder people are angry. This past week has reawakened the communal PTSD many felt in the immediate aftermath of the presidential election.
There’s a pent-up urge to do something. But that something must be thoughtful. It must not be cracking heads with white supremacists.
Leave the bigots to mingle by themselves on Saturday at Crissy Field in San Francisco and the following day at Civic Center Park in Berkeley. They have a constitutional right to assemble. Let them — and ignore them. Don’t engage.
Instead, think of the massive Jan. 21 Women’s March that spread across the nation and the world. It sent a much more powerful message than any violent confrontations could have. Solidarity fighting bigotry through peaceful demonstrations.
Those who want to speak out should find another venue, perhaps Civic Center in San Francisco or Frank Ogawa Plaza in Oakland. In the wake of Charlottesville, and President Donald Trump’s deplorable response, it’s important to speak out against discrimination. But keep it peaceful.
Let your voices and your numbers speak. Make that the narrative; make that the news story. Show the nation and the world that the Bay Area can once again unify to support the region’s and the country’s wonderfully diverse population.