MERIDIAN — “Hatred is blind and anger deaf,” wrote Alexandre Dumas in his classic “The Count of Monte Cristo.”
In February, WalletHub.com ranked Mississippi as the fifth angriest and most hateful state behind Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Alaska. And the Clarion Ledger reported, “Mississippi has the third most hate groups in the country” per capita behind Idaho and Tennessee.
This comes amidst reports of increases in hate and hate crimes across America.
Former President George W. Bush slammed Russia for using cyberattacks during the 2016 elections to turn “Americans against each other” and “exploit our country’s divisions,” reported NBC News last October.
“Bigotry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the American creed,” Bush said. “We’ve seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. At times, it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together.”
Others see President Donald Trump exhorting divisions.
In February, Newsweek reported, “A Republican chairman in Michigan denounced the Trump administration and resigned from his position as a local party leader — citing President Donald Trump’s contribution to ‘more racism in our streets’ and ‘more hatred between family members’ as the final straw.”
“I can no longer remain silent,” said Brandon DeFrain, former chairman of the Bay County Republican Party.
“We are playing with fire when we use hatred in our midst as a partisan strategy to score points,” former Democratic New York Congressman Steve Israel told TheHill.com. “We are not each other’s enemies. The haters are enemies of us all.”
Ironically, a 2017 Gallup survey ranked Mississippi as the most religious state in America, followed by Alabama, Utah, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
How is it that a state that reveres the Bible can have so many hearts infested with the bitter roots of hatred and anger?
• Bill Crawford is a Republican former state lawmaker from Meridian.
