It is painful to write about such a bigoted and misguided man, but the Cliven Bundy saga won’t go away. While it would be better for this rancher from Nevada to go back to talking to his cows and not the mainstream media, his views propel the discussion on race in America. It’s sad that, to make progress, we have to hit speed bumps stuck in the past like Bundy.
As Lazy Activism has already stated, Bundy and his ilk live in an amalgamation of America. They physically reside in 2014 but, in their minds, General Washington still rows on the Potomac and the antebellum South was the height of civilization. It’s a version of America where every year since 1776 is combined, and no progress has been made. It is both delusional and potentially dangerous.
Dangerous Mind, Dangerous Times:
Bundy was, to some, a patriot and to others a criminal. He rallied militiamen and politicians alike to his cause but when the nation got to know Bundy more, his support dwindled. In a New York Times article Bundy was exposed as the racist, old fashioned man many knew he was from the start. Bundy candidly talks with reporter Adam Nagourney and says “I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro” which he learned from his time in Las Vegas. From this trip he reinforced preconceived notions about an entire people by stating to the Times:
“and in front of that government house the door was usually open and the older people and the kids — and there is always at least a half a dozen people sitting on the porch — they didn’t have nothing to do. They didn’t have nothing for their kids to do. They didn’t have nothing for their young girls to do.
“And because they were basically on government subsidy, so now what do they do?
“They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton. And I’ve often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn’t get no more freedom. They got less freedom.”
After these remarks, Bundy’s political supporters fled, at least publicly, but the militiamen and supporters at his ranch cheered him on.
Bundy was praised on Sean Hannity’s show, but no mention of his racist remarks have graced Hannity’s teleprompter yet. Presidential hopeful Rand Paul withdrew his support as well as Republicans from Nevada. Over at Yahoo they have amassed a great list of Bundy supporters and their statements before his remarks and after. It is worth checking out.
Bundy’s mindset isn’t just held by one man, it’s held in the minds of many people. He is the person that many right winger’s wish they could openly be. Some, but not all, are afraid to come out of the bigotry closet.
A Dissection of The Mindset of Some Americans:
Bundy supporters say that its not about race but about the federal government which, to them, is true. If such speech is supported then its not thought of as wrong and racist. The message is about the government, anything else being said is just how they talk. Bundy cannot help himself, cannot stop expressing what he believes. As transcribed at Think Progress, Bundy was on CNN and further alienated the modern world by stating:
“I took this boot off so I wouldn’t put my foot in my mouth with the boot on. Let me see if I can say something. Maybe I sinned and maybe I need to ask forgiveness and maybe I don’t know what I actually said. But you know, when you talk about prejudice, we’re talking about not being able to exercise what we think and our feelings. We don’t have freedom to say what we want. If I call — if I say negro or black boy or slave, I’m not — if those people cannot take those kind of words and not be offended, then Martin Luther King hasn’t got his job done then yet. They should be able to — I should be able to say those things and they shouldn’t offend anybody. I didn’t mean to offend them.”
Martin Luther King Jr. did not fail on any front. Bundy, and those who agree with him, failed to listen to what was being said, failed to see progress happen before their eyes, and failed to adapt to a world bent on granting equality and human rights; one such human right being the right to freedom of speech. Bundy can say whatever he likes, but we should exercise our right to ignore it.
That may sound hypocritical in the context of this article, but this is a learning experience, one America shouldn’t need to pay attention to the next time a white man with this mindset opens his mouth. This situation is beneficial to America by creating a poster boy of what’s holding the country back. The American citizenry has seen the antithesis of progress.
Governmental overreach is a problem that the public needs to deal with but, in the case of Bundy’s cattle, this is not the way. Yet Bundy, and the people that flocked to support him, willingly pit themselves against the government. They cannot act with thinking of how it affects the system and, for every action, there is an authoritarian and opposite reaction in their minds. Being at constant war with the government is extremely distracting and an extreme waste of time.
Lazy Activism 