Originally published at: Jones College Prep student dresses as Nazi, goose steps across stage during assembly, gets booed by fellow students | Boing Boing
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“He didn’t find the costume offensive”
Ah the Elon content moderation standard chef’s kiss
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telling other students that he was “a german soldier from the 1940s” and school administrators that he was a “berlin wall patrol guard.”
The implicit cowardice of fascists is that they always cover their butts with authority figures – especially willfully gullible or sympathetic ones like this principal.
The principal, by the way, is a real piece of work.
In April, Martinez declined to fire Powers because of “insufficient evidence of misconduct” after the high school’s Local School Council voted 8-2 to direct Martinez to initiate dismissal proceedings for allegations of mishandled reports of sexual misconduct, mismanaged school finances and a failure to address “systemic” discrimination issues, among other complaints.
In addition, he’s been in long-time violation of the Chicago school board’s policy that principals have to have their primary residence in the city.
[Source]
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A principal who claims not to know what a Nazi uniform looks like, while running a school with a history of racism, is a goddamn liar and needs to be fired.
Also, the student is the next Stephen Miller, and I wish him nothing but suffering and failure.
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Has it not always been so? Nazis and authoritarians have always pretended they were something else, because they know if they showed their true faces they would be shunned. So they camouflage themselves, as national socialists, hoping the workers ignore that the socialist part is only window dressing. Or adopt the style of leftists shaving their heads and calling themselves skinheads, until the leftists stop because they don’t want to be associated with the scum who adopted their fashions.
This punk basically did the same, he knew his “costume” would be offensive, so he attempted to hide it. And as the old saying goes, putting on a mask revealed his true face.
The sad part is that most likely this asshole will not reflect upon why he is now hated, and simply resent the shunning and plot revenge.
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“The costume caused an uproar because it was widely interpreted to be the garb of a Nazi soldier. Distressed students pointed the costume out to their principal, Joseph Powers, but Powers explained to students the boy was dressed as a Communist-era East German soldier…”
Oh, well, that’s all right then, eh?
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I mean, come ON. That is a ridiculous hair to split and he must know that. If he’s not sympathetic to the kid’s cause then he’s incredibly ignorant. Either way, his ass should be on the street for approving this and the kid should be expelled. He has a history of stunts like this, everyone knows it, and there’s no excuse for any of this at this point.
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He has a B.A. and M.A. in history. He knows. Just as I’m sure he knew about this student’s previous expressions of racism and sexism.
More on this school’s issues with systemic racism.
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I am not making an excuse for the principal or the student, because this is clearly a stunt designed to just skirt the line with a razor thin veneer of plausible deniability, but when I opened this post the blurred picture on the top is so clearly an NVA (East German Army) uniform that I was confused why it said Nazi in the title. So it’s not necessarily about not knowing what the uniform looks like.
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I had another look at the “costume”, and yeah, he’s actually wearing a 1980’s era NVA uniform and helmet, not a 1940’s Wehrmacht uniform and helmet. But the East Germans did not goose step, and they did not use the salute, instead they claimed the West Germans did it. And it’s the action that matters more than the “costume”.
Considering how easy it is to get East German uniforms even today in thrift shops, I suspect that it isn’t so much a costume as the real deal bought off the internet. Editing to clarify that I also suspect the person wearing it wanted to do a Wehrmacht soldier, and didn’t know the difference.
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I know you two aren’t defending this in any way shape or form, so I’m not shooting the messenger here, but it really doesn’t matter if it was a period-perfect East German uniform. We all know what the kid meant and what he was doing, even if he wasn’t goose-stepping.
Kids get expelled every day, all over the country, for a fucking lot less than this. Wearing T-shirts with rainbows on them or skirts that are half an inch too short, for example. So people lining up to decide if the shape of the helmet is more 1980s or more 1940s is the opposite of helpful.
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I know, and I think we are just building upon each other. The intention is clear. I see our discussion as helping another to understand all the angles.
And let’s be clear, the NVA was also a shitty choice for a costume. Did he want to shoot anyone cutting class and trying to leave the system?
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Absolutely. We all know what he was trying to do and how this is the typical 4chan mode of doing a thing that is supposed to provoke a reaction, but doing it in such a way that when others draw a conclusion from it that is technically wrong but right in spirit you turn around and laugh at them for being technically wrong and act all innocent about the other interpretation.
But I think in exactly such situations it takes away their power if you do not fall into the trap, but clearly articulate that you realise that this is not technically a nazi uniform, but that it was clearly meant to invoke one.
And on an unrelated note, every German who has seen footage from the GDR (or has lived through the real thing) and the Third Reich will immediately see the difference. So while this might be an obscure distinction at the prep school it’s as clear as day to many of us.
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And to head off at the pass anyone who’s inclined to do the equivalent of ammosexual gunwanking to distract from what’s obviously going on here.
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Sure they did. The nazis on the other hand abolished it.
But of course I don’t expect that gentleman to know that.
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Interesting school, though. From their student handbook:
Students have a legal right to be addressed at school by their affirmed name and pronouns and to update their school records to reflect their identity. They also have the right to dress in a manner consistent with their gender identity or expression within the constraints of the Jones student dress code.
The relevant part for all this:
Jones College Prep is responsible for seeing that student attire does not interfere with the health or safety of any student, that student attire does not contribute to a hostile or intimidating atmostphere for any student, and that dress code enforcement does not reinforce or increase marginalization or oppression of any group based on race, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, cultural observance, household income, or body type/ size. Students should feel free to dress comfortably, in a manner that reflects their individuality and self-expression.
“Hostile or intimidating?” Nazis? Naawwwww……
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Or he deliberately chose an NVA uniform to give himself plausible deniability.
ETA: He reportedly said that he was dressed as a “German” soldier from the “1940s”, which is a carefully ambiguous description.
Yes they did.
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Yah, I think that’s fair. The facts should be made clear while never losing sight of the obvious intent.
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What would this principal have done if another student had dressed in a historical costume and set up a re-enactment of an iconic piece of artwork from Marvel Comics? The cover of Captain America Comics #1 (1941) comes to mind.
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Say what?
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