Day Twenty-one: Laughing at Hate

A friend posted an article today on his Facebook page about some racist jack-hole in an Idaho town that built a Klu Klux Klan snowperson in his front yard. It's a horrible act of hate and a sign that despicable people still do not understand that we're all just people, not black, not brown, not yellow, and not white. It also made me laugh.

I'm not sure exactly why I laughed instinctively. It just struck me as so funny, this ridiculously man-size KKK snow person. It's awful, but yet it's kind of clever too. I mean, the white sheets, the white snow. It's so stupid and obvious that it's clever, in a ten year-old mentality kind of way. So I see the picture and read the article and I'm laughing. Of course, I'm also appalled because there is a horrible human being out there who not only is a racist, but is now forcing his hate on others. It is hate speech and it should not be protected or tolerated.

At the same time, a friend of my friend lives in this town and says there is only a handful of black people in this entire Idaho town. Whether that is a gross exaggeration or not, I do not know, but it is Idaho so it's a pretty safe bet that it's going to be largely white. Which begs the question, what's the point? I mean, if you're white and all your neighbors are white, and the town as a whole is pretty much white, then who's going to be there to be offended? Why make a statement like that if your target audience, which presumably in this case would be minorities, isn't around to get it?

The whole thing just strikes me as so moronic and silly. I mean, hate speech, signs, symbols, etc. I get, but now we have a SNOWMAN which is being utilized as a vehicle of hate. Can you think of anything more benign than a snowman? It's like a horror film where, instead of a zombie or alien as the villian, a puppy and kitten are terrorizing a town. It is so stupid, it's funny. So yes, I laughed. It is a reprehensible act of hate and yet it's silly enough to be amused by, even if it's against one's will. I don't want to laugh. Remember the stay-puffed marshmallow man from Ghostbusters. Well that KKK statue might as well be made of marshmallow.

Sure, it's become national news now, but the guy who created it couldn't have known that would happen and so it just makes this one more inane, last-ditch effort by a dying breed. With any luck, within another generation they and their philosophy will be dead. I am incredibly sorry to anyone that has been discriminated against based on an inherent part of themselves. I mean no disrespect to anyone that such a hateful act is intended to hurt, but I understand that it likely seems offensive. I urge you, however, look at that picture. Think about the kind of ignorant, red-neck asshole that must have created it and know that these people are too stupid to hold power in the world for much longer. Soon those racist bastards will be just a blight on our society that future generations learn about in history books.

So laugh at the KKK snowman because honestly, people this stupid are destined for extinction.