I find a lot of hope in this news, because it is proof that ignorance can die.
I have spent the last decade or so studying, writing and teaching about social inequality. This process comes with is its own set of challenges. Chief among them is the constant struggle against public opinion, a opinion that hasn't embraced The Sociological Imagination, which is to say that the public has a difficult time seeing past their own personal (micro level) point of view. Do not mistake this social phenomena as a bunch of individuals being conceded, narcissistic, or egocentric. Instead, it is the (in)ability to only seeing the world from within your own collection of experiences and interactions; what Mills calls your "private orbits". Living in your "private orbits" limits your ability to see how everything in social life is interconnected. In the lexicon of my work, this is known as "intersectionality". This ignorance of a macro perspective leads to a shallow understanding of inequality, power dynamics, oppression and suppression of disenfranchised groups, as well as the invisibility of privilege.
This point of view became prominent in the US after the civil-rights movement (the first time we declared ourselves to be post- racial). It was during this time that racism, and genderism was transformed from something that was open and overt to something covert and hidden (sexism and disablism would soon follow). As these types of discrimination became more difficult to detect, the public perception was that we've beaten it; when the reality is that its hiding in plain sight. The false consciousness of the public regarding discrimination is so strong however, that when this type of inequality is clearly presented, it is met with harsh criticism. Thus, the only type of discrimination that existed (counted) was the type that Fred Phelps represented: an angry fearful bigot whose vicious tirades of archaic venomous vitriol were targeted at almost anyone (except his family). It is in this way that Fred Phelps (and his death) matter.
While Fred was on his pulpit slinging his hate speech, picketing funerals and generally being an awful (non) human being, the rest of the US population could use him and his actions to judge and rationalize our own forms of more subtle racism and privilege. Essentially, Fred Phelps and his nut bag bunch of "cronies" (AKA his family) became (one of) our reference groups for hate. While he and his followers were out being the epitome of human garbage, we could rest easy because compared to him, our (generally) less overt and (more) subtle forms of discrimination and hate speech (often referred to as micro aggressions) seem inconsequential, quaint, or funny (e.g. racial/sexist jokes). But now he's dead, and can no longer be our scapegoat. We need to see this as an opportunity.
The opportunity that I speak of is not one to (literally) dance on his grave, or to envision the kinds of torture he might be enduring right now if Hell exists (tempting as it might be). We need to see this as an opportunity to bring these more subtle types of racism, sexism genderism, disablism to light and be self reflexive to our own behavior that has perpetuated this institutionalization of intersectional discrimination. In this process, we will collectively find that we have participated (actively or passively) in a structure that is deeply flawed meanwhile believing that it was equal. (e.g. colorblindness).
The fallout of this self reflexive process will inevitably involve resistance (e.g. "I'm not Racist/Sexist but...(and other storylines)). However, with time, we may come to realize that the real flaw that we need to fix, is not so much in individual people, but in the way that both our culture and structure has given us inadequate tools to live within the ever growing spectrum of diversity that defines our world. The death of Fred Phelps has given us a chance to recognize that inadequacy, and as long as its not squandered, we should be grateful.
Please read Tim Wise's article on the death of Fred Phelps...it's brilliant.
