US Anti-German Iron Cross Propaganda Broadside Poster, World War II
In the course of my job today, I encountered a man wearing a T-shirt that said something about supporting your local iron cross. I've seen him here and there and he's always been perfectly "nice". I looked at it and looked back down. Then I looked back up and took the whole thing in. He caught me looking and engaged me with some very meaningful eye contact. The rule is anyone entering the building must wear a visitor's sticker. we have orange and white stickers. He passed over the orange sticker and picked up the other as he said, "I'll get a WHITE sticker. It will match my shirt ::winkwinknudgenudge::" He grinned at me broadly. (Ironically, the shirt was black with white lettering.) Yeah, I got the point and it made me feel a little sick to my stomach, to tell you the truth. My suspicions were confirmed when I looked out to see them driving away with their bumper covered in "white power" stickers.
I mentioned this interaction to a coworker and she said the same thing I did.
She said, "He's always been really nice to me!"
I said, "Well, we're white."
Truth is, I am white and I am appalled. But....really....how should one handle such a thing? I teach my kids to be tolerant. I teach them we are all human. I teach my kids to get love and understanding where they can.
What do I teach my kids about this guy?
*Why is this font so incredibly small? What did I do? Is this too heavy for my blog?*
5 comments:
Once, when I was sixteen and working at a MacDonald's in Winter Haven, Florida, I served a guy and then discovered he'd left me a card which informed me I'd just served the Grand Dragon of the KKK.
I was horrified. I had the same feeling you had- sick to my stomach and wondering if I could have done anything.
I'm sorry but there is evil in this world and it is embodied by haters.
You teach them there are all kinds of people in the world, even really ignorant ones.
Oh crap. I'm so sorry. What a shocker. Hold on while I vomit. We run into this stuff occasionally here too, but that one is hard core. I believe that the whole drama that is going on with our school closings (in my town) has a lot to do with racism. Parents don't want their kids to go to school with "those kids" or on "that" side of town. Its bad.
You know, I read the aryan nation was recruiting quite heavily in Idaho. Their numbers are up due to the recession and Obama's presidency, was what it said.
Yikes. Just reading it makes me sick to my stomach.
Even though I know that there are lots of people out in the world with this mentality, it does not make it any easier to actually have to come face to face with.
Yuck.
Post a Comment