It's an old accusation, I think I first heard it before I even understood what any of it meant. Yet the charge that all conservatives are closet racists has been around for forever, and ever, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.
The reason why it finds such a home in the hearts of those who oppose us? The picture above explains it, and it should sicken you as it sickens me.
Let me be clear, not one of my FRIENDS who are conservative have been ok with this. I have conservative friends from as far away as California and New York asking how they can help and what they can do even from that far away. They aren't directly involved, but they want to help because they know how evil things like this are.
And let's NOT mince words, this is EVIL. Full... Stop...
ANYONE who supports, condones, excuses, accepts, mitigates, patronizes, or in any way comforts ANYONE who would do something like this is not only participatory in this evil, they are also showing how anti-Conservative they are in every way imaginable.
You see the core of Conservatism, TRUE Conservatism, is that we are all equal. We may have different abilities, ethnicities, backgrounds, origins, affluences, et al, but no matter what, we are all equally capable and responsible for our own actions. That's what makes something like this unthinkable to a true Conservative. Racism, in any form, strikes at the very equality that is the beating heart of Conservatism. If one race, any one, is NOT equal to the others, than equal treatment becomes evil and unjust.
So either you believe we're not equal, and therefore deserve different treatments (and are not a Conservative), or you believe that we are equal and yet want to treat equal people differently (and therefore are also not a Conservative). There is ZERO room for racism in Conservatism. To allow even a shred of it is to destroy the ENTIRE basis and platform upon which Conservatism is built.
The owner of this shop publicly lobbied for mask mandates. I disagree with him. Yet now I will, and will continue to, patronize his business because he has a right to express his opinions just as I do mine. I may disagree with what he says, but I will die defending his right to say it. Yes, that is what brought upon him this torrent of hate.
Let's be clear, it wasn't the mask mandate that caused this, it was just a convenient excuse for some one, or some group, to express their own hatred and racism. This isn't about the masks, it's about hatred for anyone who is not homogenous to their version of "Conservatism." That's not Conservatism, that's Fascism, and Fascism is as dangerous on the right as it is on the left.
There's no room for it, not here, not there, not anywhere.
Conservatives say that the vision and idea of our founders is what our society should be based on, this is what I believe, it is the core of who I am, and how I see our government. So here they are, in their own words:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Oh, and if you attempt to tell me that it doesn't mean what I'm saying it means, then go read the Adams / Jefferson letters. You'll find out VERY quickly that our founders purposely left the mechanism in place to end racial separation in America, even though they were unable to do so themselves due to needing to break away from Britain.
Here's the reality: when we see REAL racism, such as this, we as conservatives NEED to speak out and be vocal about our opposition. I'm not asking you to get involved in CRT (Critical Race Theory), I'm not saying you have to become some racial crusader, but speaking out against THIS doesn't require you to do any of those things, it just requires a little compassion to help support those who have been hurt by racist attacks.
Again, not by Conservatives, but by racists.
Which leads me to my point and the final culmination of my thought. We as true Conservatives need to ensure that we are continuously broadcasting what we do believe, what TRUE conservatism is. That we are all equal, that we are all personally responsible for ourselves, and that as long as you are doing so, your ethnicity, gender, age, religion, or any other type of identity politics, is completely irrelevant.
THAT is true equality. That is Conservatism. It's time we began reminding the world of it.
Comments