Who Are Those Guys?<\/p>\n
This week the President of the United States drew a \u201cmoral equivalency\u201d among all of those at Charlottesville last weekend. In fact, the President watched (more carefully than the reporters did, he said) the \u201ctiki torch march\u201d on Friday night, and saw some \u201cvery fine people\u201d. (It\u2019s amazing what Fred Perry polo shirts, khakis and a permit can do!)[1]<\/a><\/p>\n A \u201cmoral equivalency\u201d: that both sides in a struggle have no more or less claim to being \u201cright\u201d (that\u2019s right versus wrong \u2013 not right-wing). The President also introduced a new term in the ongoing debate over the division of America: \u201calt-left.\u201d No one had heard that one before.<\/p>\n It’s time for a \u201cscorecard.\u201d Who are these groups, what do they stand for, and who, if any, has the \u201cmoral high ground\u201d? Names are thrown around: Alt-Right, Nazis, Ku Klux Klan, Black Lives Matter, Anti-Fascists, and White Supremacists (Nationalists); all need to have some meaning. As Butch said to Sundance: who are those guys?<\/p>\n Let\u2019s do the historically clear groups first. The Neo-Nazis<\/strong> (current) are those who espouse the racial message of Hitler. Hitler believed in the racial superiority of the Aryan race, Aryan being defined as white, Northern Europeans. According to Hitler, other races existed to serve the Aryans. He also believed that the Jewish people subverted the power and authority of Aryans, and must be eliminated. \u00a0Neo-Nazis (and the modern KKK) believe in the creation of a white “ethnostate” in America.<\/p>\n When the \u201cboys\u201d in their Fred Perry Polos chanted \u201cJews won\u2019t replace us\u201d they were echoing the cries of the Hitler brownshirts from the 1930\u2019s. When they carried their \u201ctiki torches\u201d they were purposefully imitating Hitler-era demonstrations. The fact that they dress like \u201cpreppies\u201d does not change the hate in their words, thoughts and deeds. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n The \u201canti-fa<\/strong>,\u201d or anti-fascists trace their origins to the anarchists of the late 19th<\/sup> and early 20th<\/sup> century. Dressed in black, they believe that the only way to confront Nazism and White Supremacy is through intimidation and violence. To them, Trump and \u201cTrumpism\u201d represents the triumph of those views. They argue:<\/p>\n \u201cto call Trumpism fascist\u201d is to realize that it is \u201cnot well combated or contained by standard liberal appeals to reason.\u201d The radical left, it said, offers \u201cpractical and serious responses in this political moment.\u201d[3]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n In other words, you can\u2019t reason with facists, so attack them physically.<\/p>\n Black Lives Matter<\/strong> is an organization developed after what they see as government sanctioned killing of black men over the past few years. From the Trayvon Martin case in Florida, through Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York, and Tamir Rice in Cleveland: the Black Live Matter movement cites a continuing number of unarmed men being killed by police as a reason for protest. Their goal: to raise awareness and create change through marches and protests. Critics have said that the BLM movement has encouraged rioting, particularly in Ferguson, Missouri where national attention was first focused. The organization itself states:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are committed to embodying and practicing justice, liberation and peace in our engagements with one another.\u201d[4]<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Ku Klux Klan<\/strong> has a long history, starting from the end of the Civil War in 1866. Its goal was and continues to be to champion the supremacy of the white race over other races, and Protestant Christianity over other religions. The Klan has had several eras of resurgence, usually coinciding with an era of increased civil rights. The end of the Reconstruction Era in 1876, after World War I and into the 1920\u2019s, and in the 1960\u2019s in opposition to the Civil Rights movement; all were times of high visibility. [5]<\/a><\/p>\n Historically it should be no surprise that they have gained notoriety again, given the progress in civil and social rights of the last twenty years. The Klan has also worked to become more \u201cmainstream alt-right\u201d by toning down its hoods and robes and blending into the other white supremacist groups.<\/p>\n The \u201calt-right<\/strong>\u201d is a more modern (internet) version of the far right represented by Breitbart \u201cNews.\u201d \u00a0While many of the same ultra-conservative views are espoused by the alt-right, there is a more Libertarian bent, which allows for more individual differences. This is perhaps best shown through Milo Yiannopoulos. A 32 year old British man, Yiannopoulos is openly gay, and was a leading speaker and writer in the alt-right community. He led the tech section of Bretibart \u201cNews.\u201d His recent statements regarding gay men and teens have taken him out of the limelight, but his alt-right success demonstrates the difference between alt-right and neo-Nazis.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Resistance<\/strong>\u201d is a loosely associated group of millions of folks who feel that the election of Donald Trump threatens the progress in American society made over the last sixty years. There is no membership card or uniform, and people of all ages, races, particular areas of concerns and motivation have participated in protests and demonstrations against a wide number of actions by the current government majority.<\/p>\n The \u201canti-fas\u201d and Black Lives Matter groups are often a part of those \u201cResistance\u201d activities, and while a vast majority of BLM and the Resistance are non-violent, the anti-fas are willing to use violence to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n In full disclosure, I started blogging as part of my contribution to the \u201cResistance\u201d. In addition, I have marched and demonstrated, both against President Trump and the results of some of his actions (cutting Medicaid in Ohio for example.) I am a believer in the First Amendment (as well as the rest of the Amendments \u2013 including the Second) and I believe that, particularly in our current time of political unrest, it is important for voices to be heard.<\/p>\n Destruction and or physical violence do not advance the causes I believe in. During the lates 1960\u2019s and early 70\u2019s, there were widespread protests against the Vietnam War. A vast majority of those protests were non-violent, learning from Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. But there were also groups that used destruction and violence to protest, notably the SDS (Students for Democratic Society). \u00a0Violence and destruction did not end the war. It gave \u201cthe establishment\u201d an excuse to restrict protest.<\/p>\n There is clearly no “moral equivalency” between the white “supremacists” and those who are protesting against them. \u00a0The fact those some of the counter-protestors came ready for a fight should not diminish the reality: \u00a0we should ALL (you too Mr. President) stand up for American values, and denounce hate and prejudice.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2017\/08\/15\/read-the-transcript-of-donald-trumps-jaw-dropping-press-conference.html<\/a><\/p>\n [2]<\/a> https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=C5g_1exP7H4<\/a><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2017\/09\/the-rise-of-the-violent-left\/534192\/<\/a><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> http:\/\/blacklivesmatter.com<\/a><\/p>\n [5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.history.com\/topics\/ku-klux-klan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"