White Supremacist (Nationalist) mother should lose her children

In April 2008, a Winnipeg, Manitoba mother of a seven-year-old daughter and a two-year-old son approved her daughter going to school with a swastika, the symbol of Nazism on her arm. The girl had drawn it on her arm by herself. Her teacher had the girl scrub it off. When she returned home from school, her mother drew another swastika on her child’s arm and the next day she sent the girl to school with the swastika still on her arm. Child and Family Services case workers were alerted and went to the family's apartment, where they found neo-Nazi symbols and flags, and took custody of her son. Her daughter was taken from school. In court documents, social workers say they're worried the parents' conduct and associations might harm the emotional well-being of the children and put them at risk.

The mother later said to CBC News, "It was one of the stupidest things I've done in my life but it's no reason to take my kids.” Although she proudly wears a silver necklace that includes a swastika and has "white pride" flags in her home, the mother, who can't be named to avoid identifying her children. She denies she's a neo-Nazi or white supremacist. She also said to CBC News, "A black person has a right to say black power or black pride and yet they're turning around on us and saying we're racists and bigots and neo-Nazis because we say white pride. It's hypocrisy at its finest."

She has every right to say ‘white pride’. There is no law prohibiting her from saying that. There isn’t even a law prohibiting her from putting ‘white pride’ flags in her home or wearing a necklace with a swastika hanging from it. However, what is wrong is her passing on her neo-Nazi symbolism to her children.

Anyone who is old enough to remember how the German Nazis murdered millions of innocent people in Europe in an effort to ‘cleansed’ Europe of their version of undesirable people such as the infirm, Jews, etc., will also remember how the Nazi swastika was everywhere in Europe. It is offensive to decent people for anyone else everywhere to place that symbol on their arm, hang it around their neck and hang such a flag in their home. In Germany, it is even against the law to have that symbol in their home or show it in public.

Ironically, the swastika is not an offensive image in Asia. It has been used for 3000 years and is considered sacred. It is a very common sight in temples in Taiwan. The swastika image has also been seen on very old Navajo Indian blankets.

The swastika (from Sanskrit: svástika) is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. The Nazi flag was red with a white circle in the middle of the flag with a black swastika in right-facing form in the centre of the circle with the swastika tilted to the right. Unfortunately the Nazis corrupted the symbol by using it as their official flag to symbolize Nazism.

Generally, the only people who proudly display that symbol are white supremacists and members of Hells Angels, both of which are undesirable organizations that are a scourge on the landscape of both Canada and the United States.

This is what concerns me with respect to the woman who sent her child to school with a swastika on her arm. She claims that she is not a nationalist (white supremacist) and yet she acts like one and worse yet, she made matters worse by sending her daughter to school with a symbol of Nazism on her child’s arm as if to say, “My daughter also believes in white supremacy.”

I think it is too late to change this woman’s way of thinking. She said and I quote; "I'm willing to jump through their hoops. If they want me to deny my beliefs, I'll tell them that, but at the same time, I'm not a traitor to my politics, my beliefs. I just want my kids back."

What she is saying is that she will lie to the authorities about her beliefs in white supremacy just to get her kids back but in her heart, she will continue to believe in white supremacy. In my opinion, she has condemned herself in her own words but it is not too late to make sure that her children don’t grow up thinking and believing that ‘white supremacy’ is the solution to our problems. Her statement in my opinion is evidence that this woman is not the kind of mother that should be raising children. I don’t know if she was raised that way but we certainly don’t want her children raised that way.

The mother has been fighting in court for four months to get back her children, who are living with her extended family. The mother can see her children for two hours a week. She said to CBC News, "It's been gut-wrenching. I didn't get off the couch for the first eight days. I just cried. I laid in their bed and held their stuffed animals and just cried. Last few nights, I've been sleeping in my daughter's bed." I don’t question her love for her children; I question her morality and her children’s wellbeing if she is permitted to have her children back.

The case has sparked questions about whether the state has the right to protect children from their parents' beliefs.

University of Winnipeg professor Helmut-Harry Loewen, an expert on hate groups, said while he disagrees with the woman’s ideology, he fears taking custody based on beliefs is draconian. He said; "If children are apprehended based on parents' political or religious beliefs, then one is opening a kind of slippery slope." University of Manitoba professor Harvy Frankel, dean of the faculty of social work, on the other hand said that the officials did the right thing. He said, "We should be reassured that this is child welfare practice as it should be."

I agree with Harvy Frankel. Admittedly, apprehending children from their parents is a slippery slope if it is based on political or religious beliefs however the child welfare authorities are not dealing with someone belonging to a political party or a church, temple or synagogue. They are dealing with a woman who is obviously a white supremacist and white supremacy is a curse that hangs about our necks like the Albatross of the Ancient Mariner.

White supremacy is a racist ideology based on the assertion that white people are superior to other racial groups. It is associated with varying degrees of racism as well as a desire for racial separation. White supremacy has often resulted in anti-black racism and anti-Semitism, although it has also involved prejudice and discrimination against a wide variety of "non-white" groups. We only have to look back in history and study what happened to the Asians, the blacks and the Jews in our country to realize how wrong racism is. White supremacy is associated with varying degrees of racism as well as a desire for racial separation. That was the Nazi ideology also. White supremacy has often resulted in anti-black racism and anti-Semitism, although it has also involved prejudice and discrimination against a wide variety of "non-white" groups.

This problem of white supremacy has to stop with our children and their children. If the mother in this piece wants to believe in all that white supremacy crap, let her believe what she wants. But her belief must not be placed in her children’s minds. I don’t think that she can be trusted with the care of her children anymore and for this reason, I think all contact with her children while alone with them should cease.

If the two sides can't resolve their differences, they'll go to family court, likely in the fall and have this matter dealt with once and for all. I will keep my readers up to date on this important issue.