Apology Not Accepted!

Sorry there are no mulligans in bigotry.

OP-ED | Quoting Hitler An Example Of The Shift On The Right

CT News Junkie

By Elwood Watson, Ph.D

June 28, 2023

Last week, an Indiana chapter of Moms for Liberty, a nonprofit organization that advocates for “parental rights” in education, ended up apologizing and condemning Adolf Hitler after previously using a quote from the racist and anti-Semitic Nazi leader in its newsletter.

“We condemn Adolf Hitler’s actions and his dark place in human history,” read a statement from chapter chair Paige Miller on the cover of the revised newsletter. “We should not have quoted him in our newsletter and express our deepest apology.”

When you get called out over bigotry there are no do overs, when you get called out you can try to weasel out of it. For whatever reason you thought the quote was appropriate you can’t go back.

The group was recently labeled as an extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its annual 2022 Year in Hate and Extremism report. The initial version of the newsletter included the quote, “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future,” and cited Hitler. While the quote’s origin is not entirely known, it has been attributed in numerous historical texts to a 1935 rally speech by the Nazi leader.

Perversely going on the defensive, the national chapter of Moms for Liberty denounced the Indianapolis Star – the local paper that first reported the story – as engaging in “intentional dishonesty,” even while issuing a statement themselves that condemned the chapter’s decision to quote Hitler.

Nope. You said it you own it.

Over the past several decades, the conservative right has been successful in amassing a cottage industry of right-wing pundits, radio and network hosts, think tanks, magazines, journalists, clergy, and other political tools. These forces have been very astute at playing on the fears, resentments, hatreds, fragilities, and insecurities that have rankled the psyches of their audience.