In Denial

Holocaust denial is aptly named. The vehemence with which deniers make their arguments – flawed, repeatedly debunked arguments originally made by unqualified, discredited researchers – suggests that they truly believe them, and that no amount of debate, no contrary evidence will make them change their minds. It's not so much a conscious refusal to acknowledge sound evidence and differentiate it from evidence that is seriously flawed, but an unconscious inability to do so. As I argued in my last post, at the root of Holocaust denial is a passionate, paranoid, and irrational antisemitism, and reason, objective enquiry, and the yearning for truth are all distorted to fit within this paradigm. Holocaust deniers are truly in denial.

I was reminded of this today while reading some recent posts by April Gaede et al. about her girls. One person referred to a recent TV program aired in New Zealand that said Prussian Blue's lyrics "preach race hatred." In a post she made today, April Gaede responded by saying, in apparent outrage and bemusement: "Where do they 'preach hate'???" A short time later, someone else made the same point: "Having recently received my copy of 'Fragment of the Future' I am happy to report there is no 'hate' … in any of the fine songs."

Yet the lyrics to one of the songs on Fragment of the Future run as follows:

When … black masked men with guns come bashing down the doors.
Where freedom exists for only those with darker skin.
…
Aryan man awake!
How much more will you take?
Turn that fear to hate!

There could barely be a more direct incitement to racial hatred. Yet not only are these the most quoted lines from Prussian Blue's repertoire, and therefore not easy to ignore or forget, but April actually wrote the words herself. But in complete denial, the Aryan lady screams: "Where do they 'preach hate'???"