Standing up against the ignorance in nationalism

On May 5, Cinco de Mayo, the front page of the CDA Press had a well-written article by Craig Northup about a potential identity crisis within the Republican Party. Trying to interview the two gun-toting nationalists at Starbucks must have been intellectually challenging, as they seemed to obfuscate profusely while defining the political definitions of why they are “patriots,” and “nationalists,” and oh, by the way, Republicans, which at least made John Goedde “slightly uncomfortable” in a separate interview.

They want to protect their “European culture” by using ethnopluralism, the separation of populations based on their “culture,” as a solution by using “stabilized migration” and “closed borders.”

Let’s start with the definition of “culture.”

The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.

The cultivation of bacteria, tissue cells, germs in an artificial medium containing nutrients.

Which one of those “cultures” do you think these young men are proliferating?

Let us return to Cinco de Mayo. It is not the celebration of the independence of Mexico from Spain. That happened in 1910. Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May 1862 celebrates the victory of the Battle of Puebla, led by Benita Juarez (a member of the indigenous tribe of Zapotec) and a rag-tag army of Mexicans over Napoleon III’s naval bombardment and invasion of Mexico.

Why was France invading Mexico? In 1861, Mexico declared “global” bankruptcy. They owed France, England and Spain more money than they could pay. All three nations sent war ships to collect the debt.

Spain and England entered into agreements with Mexico and left, but Napoleon III thought he could carve out an empire for France in Mexico. The losses suffered in the battle of Puebla prevented France from supporting the Confederate States as an ally during the U.S. Civil War (1861 to 1864). In 1867, after the U.S. Civil War ended, the U.S. sent military support and provided political and diplomatic pressure on France and they abandoned their push for empire building in Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo is more celebrated in the U.S. than in Mexico. It is a celebration of Mexican American culture. Let’s see, there are cultural celebrations attached to Halloween, the Feast of Juleboro, Oktoberfest, which are all “cultures” brought to the U.S. by “others.”

Unless these two gun-toting “patriots” are members of a Native American tribe, they are members of an “immigrant” tribe.

The strength of American democracy is its diversity. Have we failed as a nation in embracing that diversity and “cultural” integrity? Yes, the “Jim Crow” laws after we finally outlawed slavery, the way Native Americans were treated. The internment camps housing the Japanese Americans during WWII. The turning away of the ships carrying Jewish refugees who mostly died in Hitler’s death camps at Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Let us not stand idly by while “patriots” and “nationalists” use those code words to hide their ugly agenda.

The Treaty of Versailles set the stage for the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. The economic burden imposed on Germany by that treaty gave rise to that cry for “nationalism” fulfilled by Hitler and his fascists.

What threat do those young “patriot/nationalists” have that is so imminent to them personally they feel the need to carry semi-automatic pistols to a coffee shop? Because I do not feel “protected” by them, I feel threatened by them.

I am not threatened by their guns as much as I feel threatened by their ignorance. Based on their “deep dive” into the alt-right doctrine, they are “culturally” blind, ready to find an “enemy of the state” on every corner, and using the very freedoms they would deny others to promote their misguided propaganda.

Thank you for taking the time to read this rebuttal. I will not stand by and remain silent.

When Richard Butler and his Nazis were marching down Sherman Avenue, I refused to “just ignore them.” I was on the side of the street playing my boom box as loud as I could with a song called “Bleep” the Fuhrer, “armed” with my 6-foot 3-inch husband and a 160-pound tri-colored dog!

Up the street from us, protesters ran across the street in front of the “parade” carrying signs that were not complimentary to the Nazis. By the time they reached our location, the parade of fascists wasn’t very “puffed up” any more. They looked like they just wanted to get it over with. They went back to their compound, where they could remain “culturally” isolated until they were defeated in court through bankruptcy. They were not just financially bankrupt, they were/are morally, intellectually, and philosophically bankrupt.

Never again should we let them poison our democracy.

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Kristy Reed Johnson is a Post Falls resident.