
Bigotry has always done more damage in the shadows, below the surface, and beneath a disguise.
It actually helps you when it shows itself; when it brazenly parades uncovered through your streets, when it announces itself in unapologetic social media rants—when it crowns itself in crimson and joyfully spews forth venom.
Our nation’s hatred used to hide behind white hoods, peering through tiny scissor-cut eye holes—and that made it difficult to identify and a challenge to confront. It stayed below the radar, cleverly concealing itself in decorum and civility and pretending.
You always knew it was in the neighborhood, but you weren’t sure of its actual address, you didn’t know just how close to home it actually was, you weren’t aware it was sitting across the table from you.
It’s easy to grieve the days we find ourselves in, to see such visible evidence of how much hatred human hearts are still capable of manufacturing toward people because of their pigmentation or orientation or religion or nation of origin. But this clarity is actually a gift: we know what we’re dealing with here.
Things are getting easier now that shame is becoming obsolete in America. There is no mistaking who we are and how deep this sickness runs in us; how close and how prevalent and how emboldened the bigots are. The bullies now have a messiah and their religious fervor is stratospheric.
This President didn’t create prejudice, he simply uncovered it, invited it out into the light, and gave it permission to celebrate itself. He’s encouraged it to plaster its enmity on campaign posters, to wear its contempt on its sleeve in partisan talk show monologues, to trumpet itself in verbal assaults on strangers, to pound its fist on vicious bully pulpits, to glory in its violence in midday Confederate flag/Swastika processions.
We have white supremacists in the President’s Cabinet and hosting FoxNews evening shows and running for GOP office—not covered in sheets, but willingly showing their faces—all because they have the Commander in Chief’s seal of approval.
And yes, it’s all right sickening to those of us who can’t comprehend how such fear can take root in people—but it’s helpful to us, too. We have no more illusions about our shared coexistence or about the progress we thought we’d made or about the need to actively resist what has now been revealed.
It was a glorious sight this weekend in DC; watching the massive, disparate army of lovers and healers and believers, vastly outnumber the UniteTheRighters. It was a clear and visible statement that we are not going backwards, that this country refuses to relinquish our future, that love is the only path forward.
We need more of this, America.
We need it in our politics and in our churches and in our neighborhoods and on our social media platforms.
We who believe in the inherent worth of all people need to stop apologizing for our convictions and to stop being shouted down by proud people who’d like to make the table smaller.
In days when bigotry takes pride in itself, we who believe America’s beauty is in its diversity, need to find our outside voices, steady our feet, and stand together with equal ferocity.
We need to be loud about something worth being loud about.
As sad as it is to see it all—the malice, the boldness, the blind hatred—seeing it all makes it easier to oppose it all.
The supremacists and the nationalists and the Nazis and the bigots have decided they aren’t ashamed anymore.
This is the best news for the rest of us.
We can easily find them.

Amen my brother. In an odd and strange way it is good to see the face of bigotry and prejudice instead of wondering what disguise it is wearing. Knowing it is in the same room also gives an opportunity to name it, to call it out, to hold it accountable.
Lest we think it does not affect us, we might remember those in Germany who did not speak out because they were not of the affected group(s). In the end, there was no one left to speak out for them.
Thank you John Pavolovitz. I have read your post on shameless bigotry aloud to my husband because we both needed to hear your perspective. We have said the same ourselves on occasion, but generally we feel a combination of depression and rage because of the racism at the top and what seems like a reemergence of unadulterated racism in our society. Your post has helped with the depression and the rage. And of course you are right: Permission has been given to those who are racist, whether covertly or overtly, and as a result racists are crawling out from under their rocks so that now, as you say, we can see them before us.
How does I reconcile “excluding” the “excluders”?
Romans 14:1 “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
Sounds paranoid.
The decisiveness and bigotry were significantly revived in the last administration. Now adays, racist and bigotry are words freely used by those on the left when they want to attack those not on the same side. It was easy to use those terms without fear of pushback during the Obama administration. It is not quite as difficult today but these terms are still tossed out quite cavalierly with little thought or substance. That is a shame because it just perpetuates.
Handing on the legacy of racism to the Next Generation… They have to decide if they want to carry the torch MHO
Very well said. Better in the full light of day where it can be seen and acknowledged, than in the cracks and crevices where we can only guess what they’re up to.
“The supremacists and the nationalists and the Nazis and the bigots have decided they aren’t ashamed anymore.”
Yes, it truly is because now that they are out there, all naked and unashamed, the rest of us get to identify them and put names an faces on their fear that manifests in such hate and hateful deeds.
The light can pierce the darkness.
Thank you, John, for putting a “positive” spin on this nightmare. I’d never considered that all of this hatred and evil existed just under the surface of so many “everyday” people.
Is THIS what it took for the rest of you all to FINALLY see what we told you for thirty years was RIGHT THERE.
You all whose skin this never touched…refused to believe us.
Now you can no longer deny. So what will you finally…FINALLY do…to protect those of us victimized by this?? Or will you wring your hands, claim helplessness and wail over our dead bodies that you did not know?
While it was heartening to see the white supremacists being vastly out numbered by the opposition, we should be careful in our praise of the situation. Some of those in the opposition were black-clad “antifa” who are also prone to violence. We should call them out also – they don’t represent the ideals of this country either. They’re as bad as the white supremacists. The “opposition” should be opposing them also. They are NOT us.
I truly believe that this has been a reality check for me. I used to believe that we had come so much farther and now I know that it was hidden. It is hard to fight that which is hidden so perhaps this will wake others up as it has myself. Thank you for all you do. Peace and Love and VOTE!!!!
I don’t think the bigots thought about this much, but coming out into the open with your bigotry makes you an excellent target. What are you going to do in two years when Trump has gone, bigotry is no longer in fashion, and your name is out in the open as Joe E. Bigot? Is yo momma gonna hep you git a job when no one will hire you because everyone now knows you are Joe. E. Bigot?
Something to think about—because the kind of thing Trump is doing lasts only temporarily in history—and then it is gone—and wiser men and women—like john Pavlovitz—rule.
Good analogy between red hats and white hoods. Would under-educated white people feel threatened by white immigrants?
The violence and hatred you see has blinded you to the fact that that it is coming from the Left side, not the right. You spew your lies in hopes that more and more will believe you. The Democrats originated the white hoods, and they perpetuate it now. Trump didn’t divide this country as so many of you keep saying; Obama started it and the Democrats just keep hammering on it. You all believe diversity is what America is all about. No, diversity is dividing this country and all of you love it. America used to have strength in the fact that it was a melting pot of all coming together. All it is now is people like you pushing people APART.
Yeah—right. Obama started it all by having the audacity to “enter the White House while black.” Maybe you think he should have doused himself with white shoe polish before entering? Hang it up lady. Your argument ain’t working and another black person will be in rule in the Oval Office before you know it. American people of color are not going to go away—no matters how much you wishes. Just remember the words of the Lord:
“Before Abraham was, I IS.”
So here’s my thought…I automatically see a red MAGA hat and make the assumption (judgment) that they’re racist bigots. However, then in my mind, I ask myself what’s the difference in that judgment and a white person freaking out b/c there is a black man walking down their street in a hoodie. Is there a difference? I am trying to work this out in my mind and need some help.