The Face of Hate
By Rowan Wolf
As I note in the essay that follows, hatred is being encouraged at the highest levels, and deliberate radicalization into white nationalism is being embraced by the GOP. In fact, the party has been actively involved in seeding every branch of government with people who embrace an ideology of power and white nationalism, including the Supreme Court and the appointment of federal justices across the country. We must speak directly to what is happening. It is not politicizing, or politics, to state explicitly what the GOP is doing – in Washington and at every level and branch of government. It is tearing our nation apart, and it is literally deadly to millions of our people – not to mention to others around the world.
We must not look away. We must not remain silent. We must not be passive. Lives are at risk. Our future is at risk.
I have seen the face of hate, directed at me, too many times. There is a change that happens. The pupils dilate, the mouth is slightly open, and there is almost a rictus to the face. The focus is intense and unwavering. The breathing is elevated and generally breathing through the mouth. It is likely they are yelling at you.
Imagine those eyes turned, almost totally black; focused on you like the laser sight on a rifle. They do not want to just hurt you. They want to kill you – preferably painfully. My adoptive mother hated me; I think from the moment she first saw me. I was terrified I would be placed in her home and resigned when I was.
Time after time in the 8 1/2 years I lived with John and Betty, I saw her hatred turn to rage. While I had no doubt of her hatred, it wasn’t so straightforward as her saying she hated me. Actions speak louder than words, but one time her intent was clearly stated. I had been late getting home because a friend of mine was suicidal and had disappeared. I had been out looking for her and when I found her, I walked her home. When I got to her house, I called home and told my adopted parents where I was and that I’d be home as soon as possible. [This was in the days before cell phones, and paid phones were not located in residential neighborhoods.]
My lateness meant that dinner was not ready when my parents got home, and other chores remained undone. Once I got home, I could see Betty working herself into a rage as we ate dinner. Finally, she was screaming at me. She grabbed the first thing that came to hand – a loaf of bread – and started beating me in the face and head with it. The bag broke and bread went everywhere. So, then it was fists and feet until she exhausted herself. Later that night I heard John say to her “If that had been a frying pan you would have killed her.” Betty responded, “She deserves to die.” The response was no surprise to me.
Betty was not my only experience with hate. Later, I saw that hate-filled face on men and women as I marched for gay rights, or gave a presentation on women’s liberation or gay and lesbian rights, or at the City Park as a couple of white male teens came after a friend with baseball bats, or in the face of a cop held back by his badge. It is hard not to just run when those pitch-black eyes turn your way.
We are now in an era when hate and acting on hate are being encouraged by people at the highest levels of power. There are broadcast enterprises, social media, and digital outlets dedicated to encouraging hate and acting out that hate. They provide permission and rationalization for hate. They sponsor and promote an ideology of hate.
Hate and rage feel empowering. They can cover all kinds of issues – fear, insecurity, anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship problems, unresolved conflicts, etc. But that hate and rage can slide into out-of-control storms that sweep people up and destroy everything in their path. It can be contagious in the proper environment, putting not just those around them, but the entire society at risk. We are in that space now, teetering on the edge of chaos. Please take the path of kindness. Take a breath or two or three. Slow down. Look at the people and other living beings around you. They do not deserve the destruction of your rage – or the rage of others. Destruction is not creation. It is not creativity. It does not lead to any positive place.
I would say that we should be patient, but we are in an urgent situation. The forces of hatred are being fanned by those who desire power at any cost – even the cost of our planet. We must not get drawn into this artificial maelstrom, but we must act urgently with passion and love. We must hold to a moral compass that at once protects the vulnerable, honors truth, embraces liberty and equality, and stands for justice. Together we must stop the destruction and the glamorization of that destruction. Together we must take a different path that is an affirmation of life.
No hope was ever born out of hate and rage.
I am a sociologist, writer and activist with life long engagement in social justice, peace, environmental, and animal rights movements. My research and writing include issues of imperialism, oppression, global capitalism, peak resources, global warming, and environmental degradation. I taught sociology for twenty-two years, was a member of the City of Portland’s Peak Oil Task Force, and maintain my own site Uncommon Thought Journal. I may be reached by email at [email protected]. On a personal note, I am also a survivor of pulmonary hypertension by the gift of a donor’s lungs in 2011. I do my best to honor that gift by trying to be my best self and give to the world what small gifts I have. Among those is a deep passion for life, and the lives of all those with whom I share the planet.