Sunday, February 7, 2010

Wingless Angels Of Granville Ohio




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Quaint, picturesque, and charming. This is what Granvillians would want you to believe about their village. " So safe you can leave your doors unlocked. But the reality behind the story book imagery is much darker than the pastel Victorian architecture props that beckon the unsuspecting visitor. Much like in the story of Hansel and Gretel, the Village of Granville can be compared to the evil cannibalistic Witches house/trap designed to look like it was made out of candy and gingerbread.

The second photo is from inside Granville Public Library. I post this in honor of Black History Month. There are places in this world that pretend to be progressive.
I lived in Granville Ohio for 5 years and I grew up in Licking County. So even though I have been "told" there is no such secret organization as The Wingless Angels, I know different. Granville Ohio is a racist community. You will not see many black people in the village or on campus. The Wingless Angels have been active for over 100 years. They are an extension of the village, like a wrist and hand joining the arm. Creating look alike groups was perhaps the most brilliant idea ever born in "the village". What better way to know your enemy than to lure them in closer in order to study them. After significant study the best way to exterminate the enemy can be devised! When they are not planning and implementing hate crimes, they actively recruit gay people to the carefully constructed welcoming and affirming church; the pretense of being welcoming and affirming will draw new victims like bees to blossoms. The welcoming and affirming greeting committee is eclipsed by a hidden organization devising the methodical destruction of the unsuspecting individuals.

Because there is a strong Revisionist component alive and well in Granville Village, it is nearly impossible to unearth some of the more heinous of the "pranks" attributed to The Wingless Angels. You just have to outlive them and remember. I am old enough to remember reading about their hate crimes in The Newark Advocate. Licking County has a long and strong tradition and history with the KKK going back to the mid twenty s. Their numbers in the thousands stretching even to the office of the Mayor of Newark and the big rally s held at Buckey Lake. Even though the members from the 20's are long gone, their racism inherited and passed down and practically self evident in their offspring. It should come to no surprise that some of those folks are still alive and still kicking in Licking County. Rather it would be more surprising that somehow this "attribute" would just vanish or be suppressed. Are we to believe that the KKK came out of favor and all the attitudes and beliefs just fell by the wayside?

It is very likely that in the 1940's some Nazi scientists escaped prosecution and execution by taking up residence in villages like Granville under Project Paperclip and Monarch. Those spared Nazi doctors and scientists were well received in a village already racist and antisemitic. The University is perhaps a place that would gather their comrades children. A place of reunion for Nazis and their children. Of course all this is speculation from a person who grew up in Licking County. There is no record of Project Paperclip or Monarch that can be directly tied to Granville Ohio. Our government has kept the knowledge carefully hidden. Each time I see photographic evidence of something I was told never existed, I feel somewhat vindicated of the treatment I received in that horrific town. Maybe someday, one of them will really slip up and their whole horrific history will be uncovered. Till then...keep snapping those photos and making electronic records.

Revisionists have their hands full. The only way they can totally revise their dark history is to somehow shut down the whole internet. No matter how many Victorian props, golf courses, and tourist buses that are constructed and advertised, the filthy grimy past comes shining through cracking the delicate veneer. The Wingless Angels are a perfect expression for a place like Granville. They are alive and well. Their secrets are mostly kept by a community in collusion.

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