news-record.com

The platform of the National Socialist Movement is a moron's manifesto, a self-contradicting tract penned to accommodate the sophisticated tastes cultivated in our nation's finest trailer parks. Outside of the ignoramus community, it does not merit serious attention.

When the NSM chose to meet in Greensboro last week, Mark Sills, executive director of FaithAction International House, wryly observed that, "When you stand and protest something as silly as Nazis, you just give them energy."

Unfortunately, Sills' advice was ignored. What could have (and should have) been a non-event became a major story, in these pages and elsewhere. Many among us simply can't refuse an opportunity to demonstrate their moral superiority. The ensuing protests reminded us that the NSM does not have a monopoly on silliness. The pit viper and the black widow are morally superior to the NSM, but they do not adorn themselves with "multicolored unity ribbons" and race to the nearest journalist.

Because the champions of diversity and multiculturalism have ushered the NSM meeting to the forefront, we are obligated to address the sordid affair. Let us begin with a glance at the organization's racist, juvenile and impractical philosophy. The NSM's embrace of racial separatism has gotten plenty of ink, but the group's "25 Points" contains two dozen other repugnant ideas, most of which have remained under the radar.

Among the NSM's "core beliefs" is "economic self-sufficiency," yet the group endorses "the creation of a livable wage," a guarantee of "affordable housing" for all members of "the nation" (which excludes Jews, blacks and homosexuals), and "the nationalization of all businesses which have been formed into corporations." The State, says the moron's manifesto, "shall make it its primary duty to provide a livelihood for its citizens." The NSM supports universal college education and "a law for the expropriation of land for communal purposes without compensation when deemed necessary."

Some of these ideas are eerily reminiscent of those championed by the Democratic Party. The NSM's "25 Points" even includes a nod to the environmentally conscious. If not for the NSM's unsavory perspective on matters of race, religion and sexual orientation, many -- perhaps most -- liberals would subscribe to the agenda.

The NSM's meeting in Greensboro was a public relations bonanza for those who feed on the illusion of ubiquitous racism and intolerance. Susan Feit, executive director of the National Conference for Community and Justice, penned an op-ed with city Human Relations Director Anthony Wade urging us to wear a "multicolored unity ribbon" last weekend, "as a public witness for unity, inclusion and equity." A meeting of 35 "leaders of religious and civic groups" in Greensboro reportedly determined that the aforementioned unity ribbons would "signify support of multiculturalism in the city."

What would become of the passerby who, when offered a "multicolored unity ribbon," politely declined to wear it? Would he be stigmatized, ousted from polite society, reviled as a Nazi sympathizer? His offense, in some quarters, would be treated as the moral equivalent of child molestation, cigarette smoking or even -- dare I say it? -- voicing dissent at a town hall meeting on health care reform.

One need not be a Nazi sympathizer to refrain from wearing a multicolored unity ribbon. Those who value substance over symbolism frown upon the symbolic staples of the activist left -- unity ribbons, candlelight vigils and makeshift memorials comprised of balloons and teddy bears.

It is perfectly rational to reject not only racism but also "diversity," a synonym for progressive political philosophy. It is also reasonable to reject "multiculturalism," an oxymoron. Culture, by definition, is a common set of beliefs. Therefore, the number of acceptable beliefs and practices is not infinite. (Americans do not chop the hands off of thieves, conduct public stonings of adulterers, or line up and execute homosexuals.) There is nothing unifying about "multiculturalism." No multicolored unity ribbon for me, thank you.

Perusing the Web site of the National Conference for Community and Justice, one gets the impression that the year is 1959 rather than 2009. We are led to believe that racism, bias and bigotry are rampant. The NCCJ needs monetary donations to "work for a nation that is good for all of us and not just some of us."

But, as reporter Nancy McLaughlin pointed out Sunday, two of Greensboro's last three chiefs of police were black, and so are the mayor, the chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, the superintendent of schools, and the new city manager. The NSM and its allies are obviously failing, likely as a result of those multicolored unity ribbons.

Charles Davenport Jr. (cdavenportjr@hotmail.com) is a freelance columnist who appears alternate Sundays in the News & Record.