E. Scott Cracraft - Anybody can be nice

As this writer’s wife often reminds him, “ANYBODY can be nice.”

Recently. he attended a meeting of Concerned Citizens (Against Political Islam) at the Gilford Public Library. Everyone there was extremely “nice.” He even knew a couple of people there with whom he is in on very civil terms. It appears that this group sprang from the old Tea Party which also had many of the characteristics of a hate group and was not always a “nice” one.

One member, apparently one of their leaders, regularly writes hateful, anti-Muslim letters to The Sun. While this person is a very “nice” and personable man, the stuff he writes is anything but “nice.” I have warned this person that if there is any violence against Muslims in the Lakes Region, law enforcement may want to talk to him in case his letters incite someone to violence.

The group exhibited many of the characteristics of a hate group, albeit a “nice” one. None wore sheets or brown shirts and they may not even think of themselves as a “hate” group. There are more nasty hate groups in the Lakes Region such as white nationalists and anti-Semites. This group is not particularly nasty but is nevertheless promoting hatred of those of the Muslim faith.

Everyone was polite but that does not mean it is not a hate group. They even began their meeting with a Christian prayer and a disclaimer that they do not endorse violence against Muslims. However, that was likely just to cover their rear ends. They were nevertheless preaching hatred of Muslims and misinforming the public, again in a “nice” way. It is doubtful that any there really has the guts to be violent, but they may incite those who are not so “nice” to commit such acts. Freedom of speech and press does not cover incitement to violence.

The group appears to be affiliated with other groups that have been labeled as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). If you incite violence, you are still complicit in the results. If someone who is not “nice” or sane attends these meetings, they might be incited and inspired to commit violent acts against Muslims and that would make this group responsible even if the members do not carry out the violent acts themselves.

The group reminds one of the old John Birch Society. While the Concerned Citizens group does not accuse everyone of being a communist, they do accuse even honorable members of government of ties to radical Islam. What this writer heard at that meeting were the kind of paranoid conspiracy theories one would expect from the Birchers.

Considering how “nice” they were, perhaps a better analogy would be the White Citizens Councils which grew up in many Southern towns during white resistance to integration and the Civil Rights movement. These organizations were comprised of the upper classes, the “nice” white folks who often were the political leaders, lawyers, police chiefs, and businessmen of the community. In other words, the “pillars of the community.” In Mississippi there was even state government agency called the Sovereignty Commission, again, made up of “nice” white folks, who fought against integration.

Sometimes referred to as the “Country Club Klan” or the “Button Down Klan,” the White Citizen’s Councils claimed they only applied economic pressure (“economic violence?") to African Americans such as firing those who voted or worked for cvil rights. They could distance themselves from the Klan thugs who these “nice” white people looked down on as “poor white trash.” Nevertheless, they still encouraged the terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. Today, we even have a government which promotes hatred and allows such groups to crawl out from under their proverbial rocks. Hate groups, both the “nice” ones and the more violent ones, are no longer marginalized as they should be.

The White Citizen’s Councils were thus able to keep their hands clean and free of blood but at the same time incited the terrorists in the Klan and similar organizations. While the Concerned Citizen group seems to be made up of “nice” middle class people, will they inspire and incite hatred and violence against Muslims? Actually, “nice” racist groups may be more dangerous than groups like the Klan and the Nazis because no one views them as racists.

Years ago, this writer was told by an African American that he preferred the racists who wore sheets and were openly racist. At least he knew who the racists in sheets were and where he stood with them. He thought the “nice” racists and hate-mongers were the worst kind and the most dangerous.

This Concerned Citizens group probably has the same right to use the Gilford Public Library for their monthly meetings. The First Amendment even covers hate groups. But, in many democratic countries which also have freedom of speech, they could be arrested for promoting hatred against a certain group and publishing misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is putting out false information when you do not know the truth. Disinformation is worse because it means you know the truth but lie anyway.

Perhaps we cannot censor them in the United States. Still, the community should be aware of a budding intolerance in our midst and the use of our public spaces by hate groups. Good citizens have an obligation to speak out and to expose and oppose them.

(Scott Cracraft is a citizen, a taxpayer, and a veteran. He resides in Gilford)