Counter-protestors must show restraint

It is hard to cope with the fact that organizations like the Traditionalist Youth Network exist in 2013.

Over a hundred years after the Civil War and fifty years after the March on
Washington, society still grapples with the very thoughts of justified slavery and Jim Crow laws.  

And it scares the hell out of me.

However, when I first glanced at the front page of last Tuesday’s Campus section of the IDS, I felt a little more fearful.

I was struck by the image of two men yelling in the other’s face.

Although the reality of racism is hard for me to grasp as a white man, long ago I came to terms with the fact that there are people in this nation who maintain radically different values and beliefs than mine.  

While I do not believe these people should hold public office, nor do I enjoy paying particular attention to their message, my identity as an American calls for my acceptance of their right to organize and protest.

What scared me more than the inflammatory racism and elitism displayed by TYN was the reaction of the people who are on my side.

For whatever reason, my ideological comrades lowered themselves to TYN’s level in order to “fight fire with fire.”  

To be frank, this notion seems kind of dumb.

As I said, I am in strong opposition to the message of the TYN.  

I am also in opposition of the hateful rhetoric spewed by those who stand by me.

Yelling does not stifle the fire of hate. It simply stokes it and pollutes our civil discourse with its smoke to a higher degree than it would on its own.

It diminishes our message of equality for all.

Particularly, those wishing suicide on the protestors, should look at themselves ashamedly in their mirrors.

Although many may view TYN as beyond reasoning and rationale, our civility must not be lost in our attempts to quench their fire, lest we lose our humanity in our rage.

We must work to contain the fire instead of allowing it to make us burn, or both sides will self-destruct.

­— evamdomi@indiana.edu