The Greatest Crime

To this very day we continue to tragically have a long ways to go to truly recognize, own, heal, and transform the systemic racism and white supremacy which have always permeated America and American culture. — Molly

Did you know that, as Hitler rose to power in the 1930's, he and the Nazis modeled their thinking and policies regarding Jews on the example of the U.S.'s racial laws?

— In fact, the Nazis were astounded at how far the U.S. went in disallowing marriage of "Negroes" and whites, punishable as a crime.

— In fact, Nazis found the U.S. policy initially too extreme regarding the "one drop rule" which defined anyone with even a fraction of ancestry of African blood to be racially defining. They were less harsh in determining whether a person was Jewish.

— In fact, they were divided around following U.S. statutes that segregated facilities such as buses, water fountains, waiting rooms, even prisons and jails - some Nazis believing that this was too extreme.

— In fact, Hitler himself saw the U.S. as a model for his program of "racial purification." He was particularly amazed at how the U.S. citizenry responded to the lynching of 1000's of African Americans - how we maintained a sense of innocence.

James Baldwin later said that white innocence, as opposed to the overt racial hatred, was the greatest crime.

 

— David Bedrick