Beach Bigots

Sable palms stood like soldiers at parade rest between dunes and cottage ghost white against emerald waves rolling on the white sand beach of Panama City. Tribal bigots planted Old Glory at water's edge, staking claim to the public beach for their kind saying without a word, "If you are not like us you are not welcome; you do not belong. This is the new America! This is our land!" Not the silent majority, but a vocal minority of white nationalists who clamor incessantly about patriotism, but who deny freedom to all who would come to our shores seeking a better life, a new world of opportunity and hope, unburdened by radicalization, fanaticism and fear. Not too long ago, a frail little woman stood her ground against an entrenched phalanx of white supremacists who burned crosses, who claimed they were patriots. She started Old Glory waving proudly toward a new era of freedom— It is yet to come.