slate
A video clip of a white teenager harassing a Native American elder instantly became one of the most viscerally enraging images of an era that has offered no shortage of them.
In the clip, captured during the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington on Friday, an elderly Native American man beats a drum and quietly sings, and a small group of activists and allies can be seen in the crowd behind him. Perhaps 18 inches in front of him, a white teenager in a “Make America Great Again” hat makes eye contact and smirks. A much larger crowd of teenagers—mostly male, mostly white, many wearing MAGA hats—hoots with delight at the wordless confrontation. The encounter was captured from multiple angles and circulated widely on YouTube and social media, generating widespread disgust.
Indian Country Today reported Saturday that the elder is Nathan Phillips, a Vietnam War veteran who holds an annual ceremony honoring Native veterans at Arlington National Cemetery. The boy has yet to be identified, but he was visiting Washington with a group from Covington Catholic High School, an all-boys college preparatory school in northern Kentucky. The group was in Washington to attend the March for Life, an annual anti-abortion rally that attracts tens of thousands of demonstrators, including many groups of young people from churches and private schools. The event’s stated ideal is “a world where the beauty and dignity of every human life are valued and protected.” (The Diocese of Covington and Covington Catholic High School issued a statement on Saturday apologizing to Phillips and Native Americans in general, and said it is investigating punishments that may include expulsion.)
The encounter between the teenager and the older man didn’t end in violence. They apparently didn’t even exchange words. Why, then, did this unexploded grenade of a moment read as so fundamentally disturbing—and spread so quickly? There’s the ahistorical idiocy of
Not convinced that there was any harassment. The clip starts with the boys singing along with the man (mockingly or boisterously is open to interpretation) and later the "culprit" stares at him with a smile described as a "smirk."
ReplyDeleteWhere's the harassment?
News Flash: The America continent was invaded and conquered by White men from Europe. Over time, they formed a government controlled vast territories that span a continent. They eventually became a majority of the populace and shared the rights they guaranteed themselves with other races.
ReplyDeleteLo, the racial makeup of the nation began changing, and White men find themselves slowly becoming a minority in their own country.
The racial drive to conquer is now beimg resparked in a new generation. Savvy politicians plug into that. Making America Great Again.
This report is highly suspect, and likely fake news. I have great respect for HaRav Eidensohn but posting articles from the likes of Slate as if they are fact show poor judgement.
ReplyDeleteI am David Eidensohn brother of Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn. I wish to understand why the recent outrage in New York State of Governor Cuomo and New York person Hillary Clinton is as I write this rewriting the laws of abortion and the rights of women and fetuses. I see not a speck of discussion of this although it will eventually change America, and as Israel follows America, it will change Israel as well.
ReplyDeleteShalom,
David Eidensohn
https://www.redstate.com/jenvanlaar/2019/01/20/student-provides-video-says-classmate-not-mock-native-american-vietnam-veteran/
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/JrPb7t6mApw
ReplyDeleteYou are dead wrong. But you have abandoned your integrity.
So you're saying that Trump actually is a white nationalist?
ReplyDeleteNo. He counts White Nationalists as part of his base.
ReplyDeleteIf the Indian had been an Arab and the youth an Israeli, THEN there would have been violence!
ReplyDeleteISRAELIS DO VIOLENCE