Editorial note: thia entry has been updated to correct a factual error regarding the number of Sullivan/Fath children and to reword some of the earlier version to make it more coherent. It is good to check facts and not try to edit work at 4:30 in the morning. I apologize for my sloppiness and appreciate the kind notes.
The title for this posting is was a reaction I had to another friend's recent Facebook posting about a certain conservative politician and former media darling who appeared at an event in Iowa and caused enough strange ruckus that even the creme de la creme of the conservatives attending wrote this person off. And it is true, even a ship of fools has its limitations, and you know, everybody has a different definition of what "fool" means. Today, I use this coined expression for an unnamed person who has been penning anonymous letters that are quite racist in nature and sending them to one of our local county supervisors, Rod Sullivan, who, for reasons you will see shortly I will point out, has three children who are black.
Now, I get how you can disagree with a person for their politics or their point of view. But when you choose to send hate-filled letters to them, without signing you own name to them, you are a cowardly person by anybody's definition. Iowans, no matter which end of the political spectrum, have a sense of right and wrong. Whoever this nameless person is, this is unacceptable and clearly he or she needs to walk the proverbial fool's plank.
I have known Rod Sullivan for a number of years, have walked with him in NAMI walks, discussed local issues with him, and listened to him speak at my church. While I can't say we are close friends, we are friendly. We don't always agree on how to address problems, but Rod is a thoughtful, hardworking, and not cautious public servant. He shoots from the hip ocassionally, but he is categorically a good person. His family are categorically good people.
However, because of someone's pent up rage, ignorance, misplaced sense of humor, and/or stupidity, Rod and his family are subjected to letters that deride his character by saying things like "I hear you are going to change your name to lamont, hakeembi lamumba or some such,to relate to your black brudders. and also have you pants around you nees [sic] and have your hat sideways." And that is one of the less outrageous comments.
Rod is a public figure, he is used to people disagreeing with him, confronting him and the like, and he is not taking this sitting down. As he wrote to friends on Facebook, "I want to emphasize that I do not feel threatened. I am not looking for sympathy. I just believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant. So I'm posting it to Facebook for the world to see." And good for him! And let me say that is the thing about Rod I truly respect, he is not a coward and says and defends what he believes.
However, Johnson County residents should not let this be. We should be angry. Angry that in 2015, there are people in our midst whose prejudice and racist attitudes lessen us all--make us look like Yahoos caught in a time warp. If all you get out of reading this is that it is an ain't-it-awful story, then you are missing the main point.
There are people in our community for whom this type of behavior is their experience. It may not be in the form of an anonymous letter, but it may be an overheard conversation or a sudden hushing from a group of people or a not so subtle crossing of a street or pulling over by law enforcement. Or it may be not understanding that an unmarked Seven foot KKK artwork placed on the Pentacrest could be seen as harmful lacking any context.
Let me be candid, in some area of each life, we are on one of the many ships of fools, but in society, ultimately we are on a large ship together. As long as we are imperfect, struggling to become better people, perhaps we will right our ship given enough time and diligence. However, from time to time, we need people to own their beliefs and make them walk the plank when they harm innocent others. Even a ship of fools has limits.
The title for this posting is was a reaction I had to another friend's recent Facebook posting about a certain conservative politician and former media darling who appeared at an event in Iowa and caused enough strange ruckus that even the creme de la creme of the conservatives attending wrote this person off. And it is true, even a ship of fools has its limitations, and you know, everybody has a different definition of what "fool" means. Today, I use this coined expression for an unnamed person who has been penning anonymous letters that are quite racist in nature and sending them to one of our local county supervisors, Rod Sullivan, who, for reasons you will see shortly I will point out, has three children who are black.
Now, I get how you can disagree with a person for their politics or their point of view. But when you choose to send hate-filled letters to them, without signing you own name to them, you are a cowardly person by anybody's definition. Iowans, no matter which end of the political spectrum, have a sense of right and wrong. Whoever this nameless person is, this is unacceptable and clearly he or she needs to walk the proverbial fool's plank.
I have known Rod Sullivan for a number of years, have walked with him in NAMI walks, discussed local issues with him, and listened to him speak at my church. While I can't say we are close friends, we are friendly. We don't always agree on how to address problems, but Rod is a thoughtful, hardworking, and not cautious public servant. He shoots from the hip ocassionally, but he is categorically a good person. His family are categorically good people.
However, because of someone's pent up rage, ignorance, misplaced sense of humor, and/or stupidity, Rod and his family are subjected to letters that deride his character by saying things like "I hear you are going to change your name to lamont, hakeembi lamumba or some such,to relate to your black brudders. and also have you pants around you nees [sic] and have your hat sideways." And that is one of the less outrageous comments.
Rod is a public figure, he is used to people disagreeing with him, confronting him and the like, and he is not taking this sitting down. As he wrote to friends on Facebook, "I want to emphasize that I do not feel threatened. I am not looking for sympathy. I just believe that sunlight is the best disinfectant. So I'm posting it to Facebook for the world to see." And good for him! And let me say that is the thing about Rod I truly respect, he is not a coward and says and defends what he believes.
However, Johnson County residents should not let this be. We should be angry. Angry that in 2015, there are people in our midst whose prejudice and racist attitudes lessen us all--make us look like Yahoos caught in a time warp. If all you get out of reading this is that it is an ain't-it-awful story, then you are missing the main point.
There are people in our community for whom this type of behavior is their experience. It may not be in the form of an anonymous letter, but it may be an overheard conversation or a sudden hushing from a group of people or a not so subtle crossing of a street or pulling over by law enforcement. Or it may be not understanding that an unmarked Seven foot KKK artwork placed on the Pentacrest could be seen as harmful lacking any context.
Let me be candid, in some area of each life, we are on one of the many ships of fools, but in society, ultimately we are on a large ship together. As long as we are imperfect, struggling to become better people, perhaps we will right our ship given enough time and diligence. However, from time to time, we need people to own their beliefs and make them walk the plank when they harm innocent others. Even a ship of fools has limits.
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