Richard Wolfe: Ottawa Impact's witch hunt a sad revisiting of McCarthyism
“A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.”
― Andrew Carnegie
But not in Jamestown Township. Patmos Library still seeks public funding.
Indoctrinate. You hear that word a lot of late, although it’s all too commonly misused. Particularly so when hissed by demagogues or office holders bent on imposing their will on others.
FOX (not News) TV airs this sort of thing on a regular basis. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a FOX "go-to guy" here. Not unlike Nero fiddling, DeSantis is letting his state’s educational system and academic bona fides burn, all on the strength of his abuse of the word "indoctrinate."
Etymologically speaking, indoctrinate is a verb that derives its meaning from the noun "doctrine." The origin of "doctrine" goes back to the 14th century and finds its root in the Latin "doctrina," or "doctor." Doctor, in turn, finds its root in the Latin "docere," which means "to teach."
If you’ve ever wondered why a degree of higher learning is referred to as a doctorate, well, wonder no longer. A doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism licentia docendi ("licence to teach").
But Ron knows he’s not talking about teaching. He’s talking about scary mind control of your kids.
And Ron knows he has no factual basis for his schtick.
Today’s right-wing bandies the word "indoctrination" around because Republicans generally value the scare tactics used during the Red Scare of the 1950s and 1960s. Fear was, and remains, a potent weapon. Fear and rampant paranoia were foundational for the tarring of anyone not enthusiastically aligned with prevailing social dogma. Individuals not-so-aligned were denounced as being "indoctrinated" by the godless commies.
Without factual basis. It was just a handy smear.
Little known Sen. Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin orchestrated the hunt for heretics. The era bears his name, but there were indeed many, many others who applauded his efforts. There was then, as now, a shameful tolerance of, if not outright appreciation for, strongmen who led with a messianic fervor.
And woe unto those who stood away from the herd.
There is a microcosm of this at work in Ottawa County today. The current composition of the Ottawa County Commission — the majority of which is held by acolytes of the Christian Nationalist organization known as Ottawa Impact (OI) — is hunting for what they view as heretical thought.
Their prey are the three harbingers of what, to them, would be social collapse: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Their camo, if you will, is the same as McCarthy’s was: a self-serving patriotism. Which explains how they came to change Ottawa County’s motto from “Where You Belong” to “Where Freedom Rings.”
Commissioner Sylvia Rhodea, a co-founder of Ottawa Impact, said: “The vision statement of where you belong has been used to promote the divisive, Marxist ideology of the race equity movement.” She’s provided no evidence, mind you, of when, where or how such promotion occurred in Ottawa County.
The original motto was adopted in 2017. Seen any Marxism since then?
It’s emblematic of the Orwell-speak employed by Republicans (and bigots, and OI commissioners) that concepts such as diversity, equity and inclusion are denounced as being divisive. The County’s DEI office was established in 2018 by a 10-1 vote of the commissioners. Witnessed any divisiveness since then?
[BTW, you can witness divisiveness now. Just attend an Ottawa County Commission meeting.]
Ottawa Impact’s website states: “We oppose indoctrination of our county’s youth …” but you won’t find anything on their site that defines what that means.
Because they have no factual basis for the statement.
Because they use the term in the DeSantis/McCarthy sense, not in the teaching sense.
Because they just want to scare people.
Because they have an agenda that has nothing to do with public service.
By specifically condemning and prohibiting exposure to legitimate theoretical arguments regarding race, philosophy and sexuality, OI has made plain its own, preferred form of indoctrination. It’s the obverse of teaching.
It’s denying awareness and knowledge. Under color of law, if they could pull it off.
— Community Columnist Richard Wolfe is a resident of Park Township. Contact him at wolf86681346@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Richard Wolfe: Ottawa Impact's witch hunt a sad revisiting of McCarthyism
