On some differences and on the similarities.
CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI for Common Dreams
[T]wo equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection. —Jules Henri Poincaré
Republican governors and legislators would be the first
to tell you that what they are doing is not the same as what the Nazis were
doing in the 1930s. When the Nazis came to power in 1933 and during the first
six years of Hitler’s dictatorship, more than 400 decrees were promulgated that
restricted all aspects of public and private Jewish lives in Nazi Germany.
The United States is not Nazi Germany. Select Republican governors and
legislatures are not doing anything that vaguely resembles what the Nazis did
to control the personal lives of their citizens.
Of course, some states have
passed laws that could confuse someone trying to distinguish legislation
enacted by the Nazis targeting Jews and legislation in the United States
targeting those with different sexual orientation from the legislators enacting
the laws in the United States.
In Montana, a law was just signed that bans transgender care for minors and prohibits transitional hormone treatments and surgeries for transgender people under the age of 18.
Idaho has just passed a law that criminalizes gender-affirming health care for youth who have gender dysphoria and bans puberty blockers and hormones for people under age 18.
Since the first
of the year more than a dozen states have passed legislation affecting the
medical rights of their citizens. There are other areas in which apparent
similarities are in fact not similarities.
The Nazis banned all Jews from their legislatures. Nothing like that has
happened in the United States. In fact, as of this writing only two state
legislatures have banned members.
In Tennessee, legislators voted to expel two of their black members. (A third person who participated in the offensive conduct was not expelled. She was white.) Republican members of the Tennessee legislature were quick to explain that the legislators who were expelled were expelled because of their breach of decorum on the floor of the legislature and not because of the color of their skin or their sexual preferences.
Breach of
decorum in Tennessee is an offense almost as serious as being Jewish in Nazi
Germany. One of the Republicans who voted to expel his two black colleagues
said the two had acted with “disrespect” and showed “no remorse” for their
actions. He said they had conducted a “mutiny.”
In Montana, Democratic lawmaker Zooey Zephyr is a transgender member of the
Montana House of Representatives. Zooey was banned from attending or speaking
during floor sessions of the House and will only be allowed to vote remotely
during the last days of the session.
That is because she spoke out against a
bill passed by her colleagues that bans gender-affirming care. She is a
transgender member of the legislature that can longer fully participate on
behalf of her constituents. The Germans never expelled Jews from their
legislatures. Of course, Jews were not admitted to their legislatures in the
first place.
As anyone who has read a book knows, the contents of a book can have a profound
effect on the reader. The only way to avoid that result is to keep books from
readers. Nazis dealt with the problem posed by books containing content deemed
inappropriate by those in control very differently from people in the United
States who disapprove of books.
On May 10, 1933, German universities
participated in organized book burnings of books that were believed by the
arsonists to reflect an “un-German spirit.” The goal was to remove Jewish
influence from German society. The burning of the books was cause for great
celebration. In Berlin, an estimated 40,000 people gathered to watch the
burning of the books.
Republican Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, and
others like him who fear the contents of books and their effect on readers,
have taken a different approach from the Nazis. They do not think the books
should be burned. They think that books with inappropriate content as
determined by them and other critics, should be removed from library shelves so
as to render them inaccessible to readers.
Although DeSantis has received the most publicity for banning books, Texas has
in fact banned the most books. It has banned 800 books in 22 school districts.
DeSantis comes in second best having banned 566 books in 21 of the state’s
school districts. DeSantis has, among other things, banned books that deal with
issues related to race which is similar to banning books dealing with or
written by Jews as the Nazis did.
Like Florida, Pennsylvania has many book bans
in place and in many counties has banned books that are centered on people of
color.
Nazi Germany is well known for its treatment of Jews. The United States is
becoming well known for its treatment of the LGBTQ+ community, people of color,
and other minorities. A pity that.
CHRISTOPHER BRAUCHLI is a Common Dreams columnist and lawyer known nationally for his work. He is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Colorado School of Law where he served on the Board of Editors of the Rocky Mountain Law Review. For political commentary see his web page at humanraceandothersports.com.