First, a comment about the March for Life, which I support. The gross over-politicization of this religious event…
Really? You teach your young men to wear their Trump hats to religious events?
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You can do better then that. Tell us what you really mean.
I never said this was my official stance. I did say details are continuing to emerge and I will update the story as they do.
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This is difficult to admit, but I spent most of yesterday with my blood up over these teens’ reported behavior, but now, having watched more video footage, I think I over reacted. I went along with the narrative that these boys were the ones that got up in Mr. Phillips’ face and taunted him with chants of “Build the wall.” The still of that video was just so damn powerful. But it’s now clear that he approached them, they’re not taunting him (yes, there’s some tomahawk chop in there, but it seems not directed at him), and I’ve seen no evidence of anyone yelling “build the wall” or anything like it.
I’m deeply against ideals behind the March for Life, and the sight of a bunch of private school bros in MAGA hats is deeply unsettling, but I (and I’m speaking only for myself here) can’t say they did anything wrong here.
There’s a lot to unpack from the various videos, and I think anyone’s takeaway from this incident is going to depend on that individual’s definition of “harassment!” I won’t tell you how to take it in, but I urge everyone to look at it from a few different angles and make a decision based on what you see, not what your preconceptions tell you.
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The kid has released a statement:
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Eh. No.
(thread:)
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In their MAGA hats.
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what up with the time stamp? 12:11AM - 21st Jan 2019
edit, current time posting this reply 08:32pm 20th Jan 2019
n/m
The Black Hebrew Israelites have been on the radar of the SPLC for a while, and two years ago were identified as black supremacists.
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This whole thread:
but especially this part
A lot of people aren’t seeing it, because we never learn to see it, don’t want to see it, or are so used to it that it doesn’t seem anything special. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. However, looking for excuses to remain willfully blind doesn’t make it stop.
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#NotAllBlackHebrewIsraelites
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The ones you encounter preaching and protesting in large American cities are.
[sorry, missed the sarcasm]
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I appreciate the context, as this is my first time learning about this particular brand of bizarro antisemitism.
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Here’s more on them. The ones you see on the street are generally regarded as goofballs to mock and have fun with, sort of like 3-Card Monte scammers. No-one takes them seriously, and their aggressiveness is more bark than bite. The only trouble comes when people do take them seriously and argue with them in earnest, as these MAGAjugend did.
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To make this simpler for people to understand:
If George hits Christopher, that doesn’t make it okay when Christopher hits Sam.
The contortions we do to protect rich white boys…
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I wasn’t being sarcastic. The group has been around long enough to fragment, without a single leader like Farrakhan.
The trouble is, the Black Hebrew Israelites who peacefully get along with their neighbors aren’t going to show up on anyone’s radar.
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The “Jews are imposters” claim in particular echoes the Elders of Zion conspiracy theories of far right white supremacists. The whole thing reads like they copy-pasted generic Xtian white nationalism.
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That’s pretty much it. There are ones who actually moved to Israel and dropped the bigoted BS after a while, but the losers and clowns who preach on the street and show up at demos in the U.S. are racist arseholes.
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Generally people you just don’t engage. Kid’s might not neccisarily know that.
But the implication that these kids did engage with them to counter their loud, well established homophobia is strange. Given that said kids were wearing MAGA hats… And immediately went Tomahawk Chop when faced with an Indian Activist. Think it reveals that these kids were looking for a fight. And a bit of verbal slinging among a “just don’t engage” sort of group is all they could find.
They aren’t part of the left. Although they don’t seem to show up in right wing spaces. Perhaps because they’re even less welcome. Part of Philip’s statement is a stress on just how small and old that group were. He said 4 people, he also said Elderly.
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