Say What!?

Bay Bridge- Photo: S.Banos

The amount of tension, mistrust and underlying bigotry can be rather apparent in online discussions in various photographic forums when the subject of minority representation in professional or art photography is discussed (however inadequately and infrequently). But I must say even I was taken aback a few years ago when I encountered the rampant, in your face hate and racism propagated in more public online forums. No code words, no well honed political doublespeak. And it just wasn't the odd solitary guy standing in the corner of the virtual room by himself; it was the whole mighty chorus, each trying to out do the vile, profane, degenerate racist tirade of the previous commenter, and to a large part, they were in fact, succeeding- dragging the "conversation" yet further into the depths of monosyllabic hate and kill babble.

So whenever I walk the streets, I find myself (more than ever) asking who those strangers writing those "comments" might be. I know they don't all look like hideously deformed hate demons, I know they don't live in one solitary enclave- I know that we walk and live amongst them each and every day...

Hate Speech Pure And Simple!

Scheduled to go up in NYC subways this Monday!?!?!?!!

And shouldn't the federal judge who ruled on it have recognized it as such, declared it as such, and banned it as such? Isn't this the worst kind of pornography? Haven't we had enough hate speech, disguised or otherwise, in this country against Blacks, Gays, Hispanics, women, Asians, Jews and Indians to last us a goddamn lifetime? Will Pamela Geller be held responsible for anyone who gets hurt or killed because she chooses to purposely incite hatred- has she apologized to or helped the victims of the anti-Muslim propaganda film which she helped fund?

"The point is any war on civilians is savagery..." - Pamela Gellar

The hypocrisy of that statement from that person is beyond any and all measure- although perhaps not beyond the measure of the thousands of Palestinian civilians (many women and children) that have been maimed and killed by very civilized Israeli tanks, planes, missiles, bombs and small arms fire both inside and outside their homes- the survivors herded into walled in camps and ghettos with no means of support... learned behavior from another "civilized" people in history.

I hope there is, in fact, a special corner of hell reserved for those who delight in the suffering of others, those who dedicate their lives to maintaining, fomenting and increasing hatred, strife and blood lust-  as if their cause was in any way noble.

The Arc Of Hatred

I haven't been able to get this image out of my head since I first saw it, and it's one I won't likely forget. It's not a particularly great photograph, a quick snap taken with a long lens. And yet, there's that particularly graceful crimson arc highlighting an otherwise static composition. That ephemeral arc of malice and hatred forever frozen in time, echoing the very deeds that were committed in ghettos almost a century ago now. Oh, you can argue that this seemingly casual, nonchalant "prank" in no way equals the magnitude and ferocity of Nazi genocide. Fair enough. But witness the mindset in this soon to be man that will permit him to just as callously press a button that will launch missiles that wipe out shelters and hospitals, drops outlawed flesh searing phosphorous armaments over schools, or turns a blind eye to those who would commit mass murder under their auspices as occurred in Lebanon.

The point is- this is how it starts, we know where it leads, and we should really all know better...

Photo by: Rina Castelnuovo/The New York Times