Light it Up

I continue to be unimpressed by white people in Howard County claiming there is no racism here purely because they don’t recognize it. I am getting well nigh unto enraged by those who go on the County Executive’s Facebook page and call him a liar for speaking out about racism. There are people over there trolling daily as though it is their job. 

Still, it’s probably just a hobby from which they derive some sort of twisted enjoyment. In my opinion their time would be better spent opening their eyes to the lives and circumstances of people in Howard County that are not like them. 

But the kind of hate we see right now, abetted by the layers of denial that there is any hate at all, is all of a piece with a kind of dedicated ignorance that has taken generations to solidify in this country. 

“It’s not that bad.”

“I’ve never seen that.”

It’s hard for everybody.”

“They’re just looking for an excuse.”

“They must have been doing something wrong.”

“They should have just done what they were told.”

That kind of ignorance scares me. In a recent conversation with a friend on this very topic, she said:

That sentiment slapped me in the face today. It is scary. And I don’t know what to do about it. What do you do to combat it, especially when many of these people are proudly, arrogantly ignorant and have no desire to be better informed?

I don’t know. I know that there are people all over this county trying to turn the tide on that, from small coalitions to growing movements. Community leaders, like Calvin Ball, share the spotlight to illuminate the issues we need to face. All of those things give me hope.

This does not give me hope. According a local Twitter account, this poster is showing up around Ellicott City.

“They can’t make white babies.” 

The National Alliance, according to their website, asserts:

We believe that no multi-racial society can be a truly healthy society, and no government which is not wholly responsible to a single racial entity can be a good government. America’s present deterioration stems from her loss of racial homogeneity and racial consciousness, and from the consequent alienation of most of our fellow citizens.

Tell me there’s no racism in Howard County. Tell me we don’t have to talk about it. And I’ll tell you we have to fight the trolls who tell us to ‘pay this no mind’ with every fiber of our beings. I don’t know how to eradicate ignorance and hate but I do know that they thrive in the darkness. 

Keep shedding your light, Howard County.