August 14, 2017

The face of white terror, the face of white cowardice

located:	USA
editor:	Gurmeet Singh

James Fields is a terrorist. You can watch the footage, if you like. It’s unbearable - like all acts of violent rage - the car taking on a sinister, evil aspect as it lines up, aiming for where the crowd is thickest, accelerating into the screams, reversing at speed after it - after James Fields - had injured several people, and murdered Heather Heyer.

The crowd of people were anti-fascist protesters. Heather Heyer was a legal assistant with a strong interest in human rights. She was beloved in her community, and her death has helped to initiate a civil rights action and investigation.

James Fields, a 20 year old, will go to prison, hopefully for the rest of his life, unmourned, unwept, remembered only by the tragic and sordid band of Neo Nazi losers he called his brothers. His is a wasted life - one which served only to wipe out another, to damage others, and fill his own mind with meaningless trash.

I wrote a little while ago about Charlottesville, North Carolina. About how there was a legitimate - though demeaning - debate taking place in the public domain over the approved removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general. I argued that although there were racist undertones to the debate, it was legitimate to have it, and the people who wanted to preserve the statue had a valid argument, and a right to put that argument forward. I argued also that with the Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer on the scene, the debate was being hijacked as a cause celebre for the American Far-Right.

And look now at the consequences of that hijacking. Look at the re-opened wounds of racial hate in America, of African-Americans, who have suffered centuries of oppression; look at the deep divisions and distrust in America; look at the face of white terror, white rage, white impotence masquerading as white power.

And look at the face of white cowardice. Donald Trump, President of the USA, couldn’t even outright condemn the far-right groups in Charlottesville. He couldn’t even say something to the effect of, ‘we condemn the actions of the KKK’. This is as bad as a German politician not being able to condemn the actions of a Neo-Nazi; it’s really not a difficult thing to do. And yet this coward, this terrified little boy of a man could not summon an ounce of moral courage to stand by the people and the ideals of his nation, and he blamed ‘all sides’ for the violence.

David Duke, the KKK and Far-Right activist said that the Charlottesville actions were “fulfilling the promises of Donald Trump” - that means taking the country back, that means making America great again. And even then, Donald Trump could not speak out. To him, there is a moral equivalence in the actions of an anti-fascist protester and a fascist; for him, black lives matter and white lives matter are the same thing.

Remember when he was outraged that Obama wasn’t using the phrase ‘Islamic terrorism’? Remember when he couldn’t wait to call out European no-go zones (which were non-existent) because of the perceived terrorist and religious threat? Remember when he told the American people over and over again that he was going to be the big brave strong man to stop society fragmenting?

He cannot go back. He cannot call it ‘far-right white terrorism’. He cannot call out American danger zones, nor can he say that society is fragmenting under his watch. Because that would mean admitting that he stoked up the far-right for his advantage; that he implicitly endorsed this kind of violence; that he benefits from this hatred through media coverage and likely Russian support; and finally, that he would have to actively abandon these supporters if he were to condemn them - something intolerable to his fragile ego.

We stand with the anti-fascist protesters in America. Whatever moral case the pro-Robert E. Lee statue defenders had has evaporated. No one can legitimately support a case which also benefits the far-right. In Nazi Germany, Nazis weren’t just big scary guys in uniforms - they were everyday people who supported the cause. They were average, mild-mannered, polite people who thought Germany should be for ethnic Germans only (whatever that means). The same is true for the US: supporting the President or any Confederate cause gives aid, succour and power to fringe movements.

Fascism is alive in America, and its name is Donald Trump.

Image: James Fields