The Most Dangerous Rumors
October 07, 2010
"During times of crisis or uncertainty, people often resort to rumors, or stories ciruclated without facts to confirm the truth, to help them cope with anxieties and fears. Of all the rumors, racial and hate rumors are considered the most dangerous because they are divisive and create hostility that can lead to violence."
—Susan Campbell Bartoletti, writing about the 1866 founding of the Ku Klux Klan, in They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group (Houghton Mifflin, 2010)
Bartoletti's new book is a nominee in the Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction category of the Children's and Young Adult Bloggers' Literary Awards (the Cybils).
I had heard SUCH good things about this book a year ago that I wanted to nominate it for nonfic - but was pleased to see it already there. Hope it wins - that quote alone means it's a book that NEEDS TO BE READ IN THIS POLITICAL CLIMATE!
Posted by: tanita | October 07, 2010 at 12:57 PM
Tanita, I didn't want to be too obvious on the post, but YES, this quote struck me, too, as very relevant to current politics and culture.
Posted by: Susan (Chicken Spaghetti) | October 07, 2010 at 01:35 PM