Just caught this at the Aberdeen American News where an Edmunds County Commissioner is proud to be white, but claims that he didn’t know what that darned racist symbol meant:
On May 22, Commissioner Wade Eisenbeisz shared a link that included a picture of a wheel cross, a symbol commonly used by white supremacy groups, according to the Anti-Defamation League. The words “White Pride World Wide” surrounded the cross.
and…
Eisenbeisz said his intent was to show that he was proud to be white and that he was unaware of what the wheel cross — a square cross surrounded by a circle — represented.
“I’m proud to be white, it’s not a neo-Nazi thing,” Eisenbeisz said. “The symbol itself, I wasn’t aware what it meant when I put it on there.”
and..
Eisenbeisz said he doesn’t believe it’s wrong to be proud of one’s race regardless of ethnicity. But, he said, he thinks there is a double standard for white people.
“It’s racist to say you’re proud to be white, but it’s not racist to say you’re proud to be black,” he said.
Oh my.
Don’t forget gay pride too!
Are you attending the pride festival later this month?
A quick skim of Mr. Eisenbeisz’s facebook profile (which is public) would show this is not a lone post in incredibly poor taste. Anyone in public office should have at least a basic grasp of how to work the privacy settings, or preferably the sense to not post blatantly racist, sexist, and perverse images and captions. Mr. Eisenbeisz’s online conduct is an embarrassing indictment of how low standards for professional decorum have fallen.