America is no stranger to race, ethnic, gender, and religious based violence. The KKK rose from the ashes of the South’s defeat in the Civil War. Since then thousands of African Americans have been lynched. Almost a year ago, a self- proclaimed white supremacist shot nine individuals inside a South Carolina Baptist church, simply for not being white. In 2012 a neo-Nazi killed six people in a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, simply for not being Christian. The killers were white Christians, yet who in this country would call for a ban on white Christians? Who would allege that being white or Christian was inherently un-American?
When such atrocities are committed by white Christian Americans we view these individuals as outliers. We consider the white Supremacist and neo-Nazi groups influencing these individuals as aberrant. We do not call for a ban on white Christians from the USA or paint all white Christians with the broad brush of terrorism. That would be wrong. Most Americans instinctively understand that.
The sheer beauty of America is our diversity. Pluralism is the glue that binds us together, makes us Americans. American exceptionalism is rooted in our pluralism. Donald Trump’s rejection of pluralism is anti-American. Be an American: embrace diversity and reject the hate that begets hate.
http://www.amazon.com/Faren-Rhea-Siminoff/e/B001HMRK4Y
