White Rose: The Farewell and New Beginning

Peacemaker Magazine Writer: J.A. LLOYD

 
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White Rose: The Farewell and New Beginning
​By J.A. Lloyd

The White Rose (also known as weisserose) Revolt dates back to the summer of 1942 when a group of young individuals formed a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. The group became known for an anonymous pamphlet campaign that called for opposition against the Nazis regime.
 
Over 75 years later we see the need for resistance once more.
 
We are not so naïve as to believe that with the fall of Nazi Germany hate and prejudice fell with it. In fact, we are quite aware of its ever-present existence and are appalled to see it rising to the forefront once more with our current leaders and their imbalanced world views.   

There is a simple fact that we cannot ignore which is a direct reflection of humanity’s current state: hate crimes are on the rise.
 
A look at 10 of America’s largest cities offers a glimpse into the ascent beginning in 2017, shortly after our current president took office. Likewise with the rise of social media also comes a new platform—the digital landscape in which messages of varied forms hate, bigotry and racism are given the power to reach audiences like never before.
 
And we believe it’s impossible to condone the severe spike in both hate and prejudice spurred on by the incivility of national events.

With our current president, we’ve seen an executive order provisionally barring refugees and citizens of chiefly Muslim countries from entering the United States. This came shortly after another executive order approving construction of a wall along the Mexico border.
 
We understood these messages, along with countless others our president has tweeted: you are not welcome. You are less than.
 
We’ve heard the prejudice, discrimination, and hatred and we see the blatant rise of disregarding individuals because of their national origin, ethnicity, or color.

We disagree with these messages.

The White Rose Society of the 21st century is a vast network of people with diverse backgrounds who share the goal of creating solutions that work for all of humanity.
 
Our authority is truth, and our only rule is non-violence.
 
We do not discriminate against anyone because of race, caste, color, creed, religion, gender, sexual preference, nationality, political affiliation, socioeconomic status, career or other reasons not mentioned here.
 
All are welcome.
 
We stand behind words, not weapons. We believe open conversations aid national issues more than violence ever will. We encourage the promotion of tolerance and compassion and believe that the solution to this problem starts with a civil dialogue between both sides.

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