During one of the economic downturns – euphemistically referred to as a “recession” – of the 70s I picked up employment as a truck driver. I hauled live poultry up and down the highways, not the most glorious of work but it was a job.
The period was from 1975 through about 1978 or so. It was a period I call BE – before electronics; or, at least before cell phones, GPS, the Internet, etcetera. The majority of truckers utilized the then ubiquitous CB Radio. One could get directions, call for assistance or report drunk drivers and chat through the lonely hours on the road. It was the chat aspect of the CB that used to entertain me while driving.
Not unlike many message boards out here in cyberspace today, the CB – because of the anonymity of the mechanism – was a tool not only for finding one’s way on the road but also for bragging and hurling invective. I cannot begin to recount the many, ongoing battles raging over the CB airwaves regarding the Civil War, for instance. At times I felt like the War Between the States never ended; indeed, for many of the southern (or wannabe southern) drivers this fight never seemed to get settled. This simulated combat generally degenerated into name-calling as well as some rather hate filled invective, as the “Rebs” would question the manhood of the “nigger-lovin’ Yankee faggots.” Of course, President Lincoln always came in for some choice epithets as well.
In the roughly three years I drove up and down the road I saw – and heard – what I felt was pretty much a microcosmic example of the undercurrent of hate that makes up – then as well as now - the body of these United States. This was also that period when the anti-war protests were all over the streets and the media so those “fucking hippies” also came in for some well-chosen comments and threats. I recall the first time I walked into a truck stop, long hair in a pony tail, earring, cut off jeans and work boots; gave new meaning to Bob Seger’s “Turn the page.” I could hear the comments, vis-à-vis “they let anybody drive a big truck these days,” but no one ever got in my face. Being six-foot plus and 250 pounds tended to forestall anything other than side of the mouth commentary and behind the hand remarks never did bother me.
I always carried a micro-cassette recorder with me and would tape
many of these verbal antics and threats that emanated from the CB
radio. As a matter of fact a friend of mine took quite a few recordings
and turned them into a series of one-act vignettes, which graced the
boards of his street theater venue. I had always toyed with the idea of
incorporating them into a book using the title of this article, Hate is US. Every
writer has that cardboard box of memory that he or she feels could be
turned into a novel highlighting life’s passing parade; or at least
that portion of the passing parade which we view in jaw-dropping
amazement at times. Maybe one day.
Began thinking about those old tapes recently as I interact out here in
cyberspace, especially when viewing the various “message boards” one
encounters on this great big anonymous Internet. I find it isn’t any
different than the old CB radio; folks hide behind that cloak of
anonymity to vent and direct their particular brand of hatred at other
folks. Back in the day of the CB it was “Turban Heads,” (Sikhs were
beginning to drive big trucks at that time) “Porch Monkeys,” “House
Niggers,” “Tree Apes,” “Beaners” and other assorted directional bigotry
that found its way over the airwaves.
One could listen to two drivers – offended at some slight one or the
other may have committed – threatening each other, talking about
“stomping a mud hole in your ass,” and other such colorful verbal
jousting. In the time I drove I heard a lot of that, but I never
actually saw two guys stop and come to blows. The closest thing to
face-to-face confrontation I saw was one late night/early morning while
southbound on I-95, I had been listening to these two guys threatening
to shoot each other for a few miles. The chatter was getting stronger
(louder) so I knew I was getting closer to the supposed field of
battle, as it were. Up in the distance I spotted a set of headlights
that were stationary and I assumed that was one of the erstwhile
combatants. Sure enough, I slow and kind of pull over and there on the
northbound side of the highway is this guy half in and half out of his
rig with the CB mike in his hand. This driver is challenging – and
threatening - his unseen opponent to step up here so he can “kick his
ass into the blacktop.” I ease down the shoulder and about a mile down
the road, is the other driver. He is in the same half in, half out
position as his antagonist and matching the other guy word for word in
the threat department. Neither one of them would budge from their
respective idling positions. A lot of other drivers witnessed – and
heard – this comedy. The comments from those other drivers were of the
same general accord; “One guy scared to death and the other glad of
it.”
CB “chatter” was predominately male and full of the requisite machismo
with strongly held ideological opinions that tended to the conservative
side. It was a “man’s world” out
there and – according to a majority of drivers as well as some of the
“trucker” lit of the time – the last refuge of the independent cowboy.
Though it wasn’t generally admitted (this was a time before pissing in
bottles and other such tightened regs for commercial drivers), a lot of
drivers were – in their own mind’s eye – hard driving, hard drinking,
cowboys, born one-hundred years too late.
Today, the Internet message boards are not much different than the old
CB, the name-calling has been updated and a lot more descriptive from a
hate standpoint, but the message remains the same. Hate is US. And to a
large degree the same annotation; “one guy scared to death and the
other glad of it” could be applied to the majority of the hate posters
of the Internet. They – for the most part – are full of piss and
vinegar behind the obscurity of their keyboard and would never think of
getting in another person’s face and verbalizing the garbage, which
they so love to post. I know, I know, there are plenty of organized
hate groups out there who, collectively, have no qualms about getting
in your face violent. That is a different animal and a combined threat.
I’m talking about the anonymous, run-of-the-mill hate poster here. But,
even with some groups’ dear reader, one should keep in mind that while
the group may be viewed as a threat, or threatening, when the group is
splintered, or individualized, the joint threat mechanism is
considerably lessened. Classic psychology 101 lesson here folks,
joining the (anti-social or hate group) enables the joiner, as it were,
the ‘false courage’ of the gang. Much like the ‘false courage’ of the
drinker al a Mel Gibson, to cite an example.
Kids join street gangs and/or prison gangs for the same reasons, sense
of security, belonging, and protection, whatever it takes to survive,
albeit for some it is a short survival.
Now, I’m certainly not a sociologist or a psychiatrist and there is no
way I could even begin to understand just what engenders such malignant
hatred by any group – or individual towards another. Common sense and a
view of history tell me that most hatred is ingrained, taught.
Politically, hate is also guided –overtly and covertly – by the power
structure as a means of diversion. The Bush Administration are masters
at this tactic, much like one of his much admired predecessors, Ronald
Reagan.
I was an impressionable youngster during WWII and listened in to all of
the hateful government engendered invective directed towards the
“Japs,” “Krauts” and “Eyties.” Oddly enough my genetic makeup included
two of those groups and I can remember how ostracized some of my
relatives felt, especially the German side. Blind hatred, directed at a
group or individual solely because of whatever the government or media
propaganda mills put forth at the time. We are what we see, or hear, or
read.
We see much of that today more than ever, since September 11, 2001 as
the government and media propaganda mills ramp up – at every
opportunity – “the war on terror,” for
instance.Implicit in this Orwellian connotation is the overriding
message that this is a war on Islam and Muslims. By extension – much
like occurred in WWII – this becomes a war on anyone who dares be
different, the government of course being the sole arbiter of just who,
or what constitutes that dissimilarity. All one needs do is follow the
media pronouncements regarding immigration, for a lot of Amerikans this
equates to extreme dislike, which – by tacit approval of the state –
means that it’s okay to hate all members of this sub-group, primarily
Latino. By extension then, this means that hatred can be directed to
all who have a skin color other than white, such is life in these
United States.
According to a recent Cornell University poll
almost half of the respondents’ felt that the government should curtail
civil liberties for Muslim Americans. Another 27 percent of those
polled felt that Muslim Americans should be required to register their
location with the federal government. No one – fortunately – asked if
Muslim Americans should be required to wear a crescent moon and star
patch on their clothing but, I’m certain that if the question had been
asked a large percentage of people would have replied in the
affirmative. A good example of just how the state and the media promote
hate are the comments of one Daniel Pipes
a Bush appointee to the United States Institute of Peace. Mr. Pipes
recently made comments that he “was encouraged” that 44 percent of
Americans would curtail Muslim American civil liberties.
On the media side, Don Imus
and MSNBC found themselves in trouble for comments that Imus made a
couple years back when he referred to Palestinians as “stinking
animals” and that they “should all be killed.” These, of course, are
just two examples of deliberate state – and media - legitimization of
hatred as government policy. The consequences of all of this
state-sponsored hatred is that it filters down to the street and
manifests itself in the form of hate crimes. According to the FBI's statistics,
hate crimes are on the rise in Amerika. Does this really surprise
anyone? With a fascist government running out of control, destroying
the economy and any/all educational opportunities for a majority of its
citizens, hate as a causative factor for Joe and Jane Six-Pack’s ills
effectively takes the heat off Bush and Company. Couple this with the
increasingly immoral illiteracy rate in this country and you have a
population that is blissfully indoctrinated by the 30-second sound
byte.
Newspaper message boards have also now become a relatively recent venue
for the posting of directional hate communication. I read quite a few
newspapers online and have noticed the rise in these types of comments.
Most generally the comments tend to swell if the story has to do with
immigration, Muslims, black crime, etcetera. I’m not quite sure just
what a online newspaper might do – or not do - regarding this
phenomenon. In print letters to the editor a newspaper “reserves the
right” to print or otherwise edit individual comment. The majority of
online newspapers do have a “moderator” for their respective message
boards and many of these moderators will “flag” or otherwise delete
what they feel is inappropriate commentary. This is an extremely gray
area as one runs up against First Amendment rights here.
I view many online newspapers and do read (those who have message
boards) the comments posted by readers. There are not many online
papers that have message boards and probably for good reason,. Those
papers that do offer these boards for the most part have some basic
rules for posting which seem to check the more explicit racial hatred.
There is one newspaper however, the South Florida Sun Sentinel,
which seemingly allows without benefit of moderation the most hate
filled commentary that I have seen on any online newspaper message
boards. I will include here, only a few examples of that hatred.
The few comments that follow were posted on the Sun Sentinel’s message
boards in response to a story about a Muslim woman who was strip searched
at the Tampa airport. The Department of Homeland Security apologized
(after the fact) for detaining and strip-searching the woman, a Spanish
citizen. I have posted the comments as written with no corrections of
spelling etcetera.
apologize? why should we have to apologize for protecting our borders?
if you don't like it don't come here when you know the chances of your
name being on the "list" are pretty high. if you don't want to be
screened, detained, or strip searched, stay your ass at home!
Jawad had planned to visit her son, who was having disciplinary
problems, in April as a surprise. Instead, Hany was shocked to learn
that his mother was in jail. He subsequently had to be hospitalized
twice for out-of-control behavior, his father said. Now in Spain, Hany
has calmed down a lot, although he has taken leave from school, his
father said.``I lost my son because of what happened,'' said Kubba, who
was lauded last year by Gov. Jeb Bush after organizing a trip where
about a dozen friends went to Nashville to vote in the Iraqi
election.``I have been in this country for 27 years. I am American,''
said Kubba, 49, who spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison for speaking out
against Saddam Hussein. He left Iraq in 1979 after being sentenced to
death, and his father was beaten to death by Hussein's agents.``My son
wanted to be in the U.S. Navy, and he speaks both English and Arabic,''
Kubba said.``He would have been just what they are looking for. What
they did to (Jawad) was unfair and is hurting America.''
just what our country needs in the armed service out of control iraqi teens from the funny farm
2 less towel heads - so what! If the muslims have a problem with it -
let the blame the muslim fanatics who brought the problem to them in
the first place. Go back to the desert where you belong.
we have become a nationofPUSSIES!!!!!!!!!!
apologizing for something that is now required because of the muslim extremists.
let her get bin laden to apologize to her. it's his doings that brought
this on. and you know what? bin laden would probably have her beheaded!
One question... was she hot? You never know what you'll find under one
of those burkas'. I'm thinking she was a fine young piece of tail... a
firmed up Middle Eastern Anderson... with full C’s and long legs...
NICE!
Okay, dear reader, you get the idea. That
is but one small sampling, if you want to read more check the link
above and read any story, follow it to the comments section and be
prepared. As I mentioned earlier, the First Amendment guarantees these
posters – and others like them – the right to verbalize and/or post
this garbage. But somewhere deep inside me I have to ask whatever
happened to that editorial maxim, “we reserve the right to…?” If print
newspapers can – and still do – use that principle why not the online
versions? You will notice in the copied cells I used, the caveat “Flag
for review.” In the many months of reading these comments I’ve yet to
see any flagged, reviewed or deleted. If other online newspapers – and
there are many that do – can apply the “we reserve the right to”
dictum, why not this particular newspaper? Of course, it would not have
anything to do with ad revenue, or acting as agent of the state now,
would it?
Historically hate crimes and attacks increase during bad economic
times. Joe and Jane Six-Pack need to blame someone for the fact that
they now have to buy generic cigarettes or bottom shelf-brand beer. It
never occurs to them to blame the state or its attendant sycophants for
their problems; after all, Rush, O’Reilly and the other
propagandists/apologists for Bush keep repeating the same mantra over
and over: “It’s all caused by those immigrants and terrorists.” So, Joe
and Jane parrot the mantra to anyone and everyone within earshot as the
bile and the hate boil over. After all, this is Amerika, home of the
brave and land of the free – as long as you are white – and Hate is US.
“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated.” George Bernard Shaw
Writings 
During one of the economic downturns – euphemistically referred to as a “recession” – of the 70s I picked up employment as a truck driver. I hauled live poultry up and down the highways, not the most glorious of work but it was a job. 
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