One of the truly Great American Writers who still happens to be alive, Roth used the phrase to describe the variety of antisemitism that involves derogatory speech shared among friends over cigars and brandy, but not carrying out actual acts of genocide. In Plot Against America, FDR is not elected for a second term. The Presidency instead goes to aviation hero Charles Lindbergh. He was an incredible aviator to be sure. He was also a high flyer in antisemitic circles, something that became public in 1938. Lindbergh, unlike others of his time, was more of a "living room antisemite," Roth wrote, meaning he was not someone who necessarily would cause harm to Jews, "But, hey," might have been this Lindbergh's attitude, "if that's your thing, who am I to judge?"
What I am writing about is one of those stories circulating in the free-wheeling world of social media, that calls conventional media on the carpet for failing to write about dying heroes. Instead, the post says, the media covers other less worthy developments playing out on the American stage. To be fair, in some cases the stories aren't worth writing on a soaked napkin or are really too prurient for anyone's good. Others, however, are serious stories about law enforcement's treatment of minorities, particularly young black males. As much as no one will admit it to your face, by sharing this tale in this way they are perpetuating racist views. In essence, they are using a fallen hero's death as the vehicle in their anti-minority parade.
In this case it's "cut and paste racism." They cut and paste the story of an amazing couple of Vietnam War helicopter pilots who braved heavy machine-gun fire and wounds to make several flights into the battlefield to carry their pinned-down brothers to safety. There aren't enough words to describe their actions. Incredible. Selfless. Courageous. Two of the men -- Captain Ed Freeman and Major Bruce Crandall received the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest military honor.
People are using a clip of this story to express some misdirected indignation at the media for allegedly not reporting the news of Capt. Freeman's death, and instead "wasting ink" of the stories of Travon Martin and Michael Brown, two unarmed black men who were killed by police. According to Snopes.com, this is a story that is paraded out every year or so, each time with a different shade of lipstick. In prior years, before the killings of Martin and Brown, the post claims the media ignored Capt. Freeman's passing so they could fully cover Michael Jackson's death, then it was the charges that rapper Chris Brown assaulted then girlfriend, singer Rhianna, then it was Kim Kardashian's "blink and you'll miss it" marriage to NBA star Kris Humphries. In some cases mention is also given to some caucasian shenanigans, like Lindsay Lohan's sad and public displays of addiction, or former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky's decades-long sexual encounters with boys.
Wow. Wow. And wow. What more could you want in a remembrance of your almost unbelievable acts of heroism than mentions of senseless murder, barbaric treatment of women, out-of-control addiction, and pedophilia. Please don't write my obituary. If you remove Lohan and Sandusky, you're left with, you guessed it African Americans.
Not only does the post go out of its way to pick on the media, entertainers and blacks, but it goes out of its way well after the fact. As Snopes points out, Capt. Freeman died in August 2008, way before any of these incidents took place. This story gets carted out and refreshed with "Mad Libs" style insertion of the murdered or disgraced entertainer or black person of the day. Apparently 2008 was the last time a fallen hero was covered less than any other story in the U.S. media.
Capt. Freeman and Maj. Crandall -- you, sirs, are true American heroes. I hope you and your families will forgive this ignorant use of your sacrifices. I also hope you have better things to do with your time than read forwarded emails and cut-and-pasted posts on Facebook.
