In the movie Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the Oompa Loompas sang a tune about a child who was a brat. In that song, they harmonized, “Blaming the kid is a lie and a shame. You know exactly who’s to blame. The mother and the father.”
When you see the culture encouraging us to be at each other’s throats, the line could read, “Blaming the protester is a lie and a shame. You know exactly who’s to blame. Identity Politics.”
First off, let me make clear that racism must be seen for what it is, and denounced. I am about liberty, and those who divide us based on race or media-imposed labels are acting against liberty and need to be condemned. It’s just another form of identity politics.
Groups I don’t agree with have the right to say what they want – this right comes from our Creator and is codified in our Constitution. However, I have every right to condemn it. And thank God that we have the freedom to do so.
As the great E.W. Jackson noted, “they want to turn everything into a racial issue. They believe that somehow … our country really is black against white – we’re not that at all. We are a nation founded on principle – not race. Both [sides] are more interested in racial division than they are in us becoming one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
We know that the unhinged left is all about identity politics and fueling class envy and hatred. This we’ve come to expect. Whether it’s Ferguson, Baltimore, or the AntiFa movement, liberals facilitate and promote the division of our people, based on race. When they can violently protest, throw bricks, destroy property and call for the killing of police officers – without prosecution – then divisive identity politics is to blame.
As Congressman Tom Garrett, a Republican Liberty Caucus and House Freedom Caucus member who represents Charlottesville in Congress, rightly said on his Facebook page: “Dr. King was spot-on when he said we should judge one another by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.”
I hate the politicization of racial politics, especially tragedies such as this. But to a large degree, it reveals character.
What is becoming glaringly obvious to me, and many people I talk to, the political Establishment is to blame.
When politicians are complicit in identity politics and the language of racial division, they further our country’s division.
We need to be brought together as one, united behind our common ideals, not separated by an Establishment trying to divert attention from the miserable job it is doing in Washington, DC.
When the City of Charlottesville announced their plan for culturally cleansing the city – removing the statute of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, every elected Republican in the Commonwealth should have spoken up – with one voice and said, “No”, because tearing down history is not the Virginia way.
Rarely has erasing history ever resulted in anything good. Totalitarians, such as the Nazis, Communists, and the Taliban, destroy monuments. Could you imagine the outcry if someone suggested tearing down the Vietnam, Lincoln or the Jefferson Memorials?
Corey Stewart was correct when he said, “if the liberals are allowed to start destroying our history, they’ll start with Robert E. Lee, they move on to Thomas Jefferson, they move on to George Washington, and soon, the entire basis of our society is going to be wrecked.”
The real target of these leftists is to tear down the Constitution and the very fabric of our society. The Establishment stands idly by and lets it happen, often joining in the hysteria of the left, supporting their cause.
When those seeking to destroy our history and the monuments of our country because it offends someone, are not aggressively challenged by our political leadership, then that very leadership facilitates the action. And we are left with a bunch of emboldened crazies, of different types, who resort to violence when they don’t get their way. When the political process has failed, they resort to extremes.
What can we do about this problem? Let’s get involved in the primary process, where your vote really counts. Elect America-first liberty candidates who will respect the rights and freedoms of all, and work for liberty and justice for all. Elect candidates who will hold town halls and listen to their constituents. Get involved in the process early, and with hard work, our way of life will prevail.
Shak Hill is a former Air Force combat pilot and Republican candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District.
Perspectives expressed by op-ed writers are their own and are not the views of The Daily Caller.
