Irritated Beyond Belief

My sister has a post up called "Irritated Beyond Belief" (well, close to that at least) in which she expresses amazement that a friend would send her an email full of racist and conservative crap.

She might be interested to know that America has a healthy population of white supremicists who evince an "all white people are just like me" attitude, and the trend is gaining momentum (Orcinius - Say No to Nazis). She'll also be disappointed to know she's probably not eligible for the 1000 white supremicist songs gift package.

There are also some people who are so far outside thinking straight about any sort of issue that doesn't center around them that they reverse the issue as being with others, not with them (Chicago Strib, requires registration, but text reproduced below). The bit below is from ProfsBlawg (in this case, Paul Horwitz, with earlier posts by Hillel Levin) and is part of an extended conversation about the book "Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights" by Kenji Yoshino, which is an examination of some of the steps minorities are forced to go through to hide their identities and fit in with popular/mainstream culture.

You can read about the book at ProfsBlawg here, here, here, here and here (in reverse order). You can read this idiotic woman's letter below:

Dear Amy: . . . About two years ago two young gay men moved in across the street. They've taken the ugliest, most run-down property in the neighborhood and remodeled and transformed it into the pride of the street. When it snows, they shovel out my car and are friendly. . . Last month I went out to retrieve my newspaper and watched them kiss each other goodbye and embrace as they each left for work. I was appalled that they would do something like that in plain view of everyone. I was so disturbed that I spoke to my pastor. He encouraged me to draft a letter telling them how much we appreciate their help but asking them to refrain from that behavior in our neighborhood. . . . Since I delivered it, I've not been able to get them to even engage me in conversation. . . They have made it so uncomfortable for the other neighbors and me by not even acknowledging our presence. How would you suggest we open communications with them and explain to them that we value their contributions to the neighborhood but will not tolerate watching unnatural and disturbing behavior. - Wondering