Is 'white pride' source of pride or shame?
Let me put it this way: Were I a driver in the demolition derby at the DuPage County Fair, would I put a sign bearing an iron cross and a painted "white pride" message on the roof of my car for thousands to see?
Not in a million years. Way too strong a connection to intolerance of others not of the same color.
But if I were a witness to such a display at the county fair this past weekend, would I:
a. Be outraged and vow use this column as a bully pulpit to decry anyone allowing this to go on at such a public, family-oriented event. Demand a reporter investigate and write a story?
b. Be somewhat disgusted, but not thoroughly surprised, and move on to other things?
c. Do nothing until someone complains?
My answer, for better or worse, is "b" and "c."
My answer might be different had I seen the whole package. As I wrote last week, I was at the derby on Sunday to be interviewed as part of our sponsorship of the fair; from the broadcast booth I saw the iron cross but not the "white pride" part of the display.
But two people who had a better vantage point - the grandstand from where as many as 6,000 people viewed the event - let their feelings be known in no uncertain terms. How, they said in letters to the editor, could the fair promoters allow anyone to spew such hatred at such a public event?
So, I asked one of our editors, Robert Sanchez, who reports on Wheaton, to look into the matter.
He contacted the driver, a 24-year-old from Lombard, who made no apologies. "I'm proud to be white, and I like to display it," he said. "It's nothing negative against anybody else, so I can't see why anybody would take offense to it."
The demolition derby promoter, Dennis Nelson, said the white pride display shouldn't whip anyone into a lather.
"What if it had said 'Hispanic pride?' What if it had said 'female pride?' Should I complain because I'm a man and I'm offended?"
He also suggested we were making way too big a deal of the issue because only one person complained to the fair board when the other demolition derby goers did not.
But Sanchez also caught up with fair board member Jim McGuire late in the day Thursday. He said if the board had been aware of the white pride message, it would not have allowed it.
"That message is not something that has anything to do with us as a fair," McGuire said. "I am kind of disappointed that something like that would happen. It's not right.
"We need to grow our fair. And the way we do that is to be completely inclusive of everyone," he said, noting that the fair booked such diverse acts as Los Lobos and the Wailers this year.
So, there you have it. If you were among those in the grandstand, or if you weren't, how do you feel about this: a not-too-subtle advertisement for racism? Or, a young guy simply stating he's proud to be white. And the news media blowing the whole thing out of proportion?