“Hate Has No Home Here” read a sign at the rally on Market Square Mall. “When Hate is Loud, Love Must Be Louder,” read another. At some point I turned to see a woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty standing next to Yassin Terou, owner of the restaurant "Good Morning America" deemed “The Nicest Place in America.”
The sentiments of Emma Lazarus’ poetry, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” blending with the message of the Yassin’s Falafel House T-shirt, “All welcome. All sizes. All colors. All ages. All sexes. All cultures. All religions. All types. All beliefs. All people. You belong. You are safe.”
The rally held on Friday, Oct. 9, was to protest the effort to make Knoxvillea headquarters for Heritage
Hubs, which aligns with white nationalist organizations like the Mass Deportation Coalition and the White Civil Advocacy Project. One of the speakers ata fundraiser for Heritage Hubs was Knox County Commissioner Andy Fox.
“They call you a White Nationalist,” Fox complained, “Just because you say it’s good to have objective, rational, linear thought.” He made this complaint at a recent meeting of the Knox County Commission. Of course, if you need to be able to produce objective, rational, linear thought to be accused of White Nationalism then Fox need not fear the accusation. His arguments for the most part are subjective, emotional and scattered.
Abraham Lincoln, the founder of the Republican Party described American democracy as “government of the people, by the people and for the people,” whereas Fox has said, “I believe this country was created by Christians for Christians.” The idea that Christianity was meant to be a self-serving religion will come as a surprise to anyone who learned the words of Jesus in Sunday School. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” “Love your enemies.” Or anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of the writings of the apostle Paul, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Knoxville hosted the World’s Fair in 1982 welcoming people from all over the planet, people of all colors, races, religions and nations. In 1985 I travelled to Knoxville to shop for a college. During lunch I found myself on the campus of the University of Tennessee in the middle of an international fair. I still have a T-shirt from that event which reads, “In Peace We Celebrate Our Differences,” with the word peace written in many different languages - peace, paz, paix, Frieden, fred, vrede, rauha etc. etc. I had never been to Knoxville before but it already felt like home.
As part of his meandering remarks at Knox County Commission Andy Fox argued, “Thanksgiving is a unique, Christian, American holiday. By the way if you are not a Christian I encourage you to not celebrate that holiday.” Clearly Fox isn’t grateful for all of his neighbors. No doubt the Pilgrims who shared a meal with the Indians were too woke for Fox’s taste. Members of the Wampanoag tribe contributed much of the food on that day: fish, venison, wildfowl and a variety of vegetables.
Fox also blamed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 for altering the racial and cultural composition of this country. The Wampanoag would be puzzled by this idea. The Cherokee, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw and the Catawba were here long before the arrival of any white people. As part of the international slave trade many Africans were kidnapped and brought to our country against their will as early as 1619. People of color have been living on this soil long before our nation was founded in 1776.
When I vote for a county commissioner I am looking for someone who will address the problem of stormwater runoff. I do not need government assistance to tell me who to invite to Thanksgiving dinner. Traditionally, many families serve turkey, dressing, cornbread and green bean casserole on that day. This year I’m thinking about having falafels.
Chris Buice is minister of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: The problems with Andy Fox's 'Christian America' rhetoric | Opinion
