Denialism

The Ghost of Henry Ford I

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by

MarkH
in

Given Ford’s early track record, this story out of California is rather disturbing. (Via PZ). A SoCal Ford dealership is using prejudice against non-Christians as a prominent selling point for their business.

Henry Ford I was a well-known antisemite, and published the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in his personal rag, the Dearborn Independent. During the pre-war/depression era, Detroit hosted a number of prominent isolationists and antisemites, including Ford and Father Coughlin.

But, if you know your market, intolerance sells, and hard times sometimes bring out the worst in people. Still, it’s rather sad to see my hometown company doing nothing to rein in their renegade dealership. Unless of course, they approve of the marketing tactic of hate and prejudice. Hey, I’m sure they can afford to lose a few customers. The U.S. auto industry is doing well enough to alienate anyone they please. They are an unstoppable juggernaut, dominating the world auto market. I think.

Comments

10 responses to “The Ghost of Henry Ford I”

  1. Scott Belyea

    I suggest that trying to draw even a tenuous connection between Ford’s attitudes and this dealership action is not supportable.

    The U.S. auto industry is doing well enough to alienate anyone they please. They are an unstoppable juggernaut, dominating the world auto market. I think.

    Is this very heavily veiled sarcasm, or do you need to get out more? 🙂

    Reply
  2. The Ridger

    Oh, come on. Is there actually any reason to think that there’s a link between Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism and this local Ford dealer’s attitudes? Do you really think they picked Fords instead of Chevies to sell because of Henry’s bigotry?

    Reply
  3. PalMD

    Of course not. It’s just an interesting historical fact to round out the story. But, at least around here, Ford’s less pretty legacy is not forgotten, and FordCo is not ignorant of history. You’d think once they heard about this, they might use their influence to give the dealership a little push.

    Reply
  4. Martin

    Ford are the same company that pointed out trade unionists to right-wing militants in Argentina and allowed them to be tortured on their property. Given that, I’m not really surprised by this latest nonsense… 🙁

    Reply
  5. Cuttlefish

    Just for fun:

    http://digitalcuttlefish.blogspot.com/2008/05/and-fishy-on-trunk.html

    Reply
  6. PalMD

    Thanks, cuttlefish, as usual

    Reply
  7. Pete

    Things like this are the true test of tolerance. Can you accept someone doing something you find distasteful and morally offensive? If you do find this act offensive, by all means boycott. But don’t forget to look for AND protest/boycott anti-Christian activities as well.

    But I must say, a Christian should not discriminate against people simply becasue they are not Christian. Doing so is a total disregard for the basic teachings of Christ.

    Reply
  8. Oldfart

    I am on several right wing mailing lists just to keep my finger on things and below is the text of one email I received recently. It isn’t only Ford dealerships. It is as y’all suspected all along. It’s endemic to the right wing:

    Blog By: Jacob Dawson

    OneNewsNow.com

    Yesterday I wrote a blog about how John McCain is completely losing the Christian vote, and apparently doesn’t care. After being on the pro-homosexual “Ellen Degeneres Show” yesterday, McCain didn’t stop at promoting his Anti-Christian campaign. McCain went on to reject Pro-Israel pastor John Hagee, for comments made considering “end times prophesy”. And now McCain has rejected the only other serious endorsement from Christians, Pastor Rod Parsley.

    Apparently Parsley dared to call Islam an anti-Christ religion, and he also said that Islam is a religion of violence. How could he be so insensitive? I mean Islam didn’t destroy the USS Cole, wait… Yeah it did. But it wasn’t Islam that bombed the World Trade Center in the early 90’s, wait… Yeah it was. It wasn’t Islam that destroyed London in 2005 though, wait… Uh yeah it was. But of course 9-11… YEP ISLAM. Islam is a religion of hate, and to reject an endorsement because of this is… Stupid. Just to be clear in 2004 Pastor Parsley played a huge role in winning Ohio for Bush, and is a solid conservative on issues such as life, marriage, and school choice.

    John McCain has decided that now that the primaries are over, he doesn’t need Christians to win in November. He can go back to his RINO ways. Senator McCain, I beg to differ. You need us to vote and vote in record numbers. Seriously… Who is running your campaign?

    Reply
  9. HennepinCountyLawyer

    London was destroyed in 2005? Obviously I need to follow the news more closely. . .

    Reply
  10. Bill

    Don’t make the same mistake that these lunatics make. They are no more representative of the majority of conservatives than the militant extremists are representative of Islam. I doubt that all liberals would want to be judged by PETA any more than conservatives want to be judged by people like Rod Parsley.

    Reply

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