Red Hats, Black Israelites
I didn’t watch the video, the short viral one or the 100 minute one, of the event that happened at the National Mall. I’m tired of the bigotry, misogyny, racism and homophobia in our daily discourse. I didn’t really comment on it because I didn’t watch it. However, two writers I admire did watch and took their time with their commentary. Andrew Sullivan and Brian Beutler have interesting takes on the whole ordeal.
I like context in my news. It’s more fun to throw out Molotov cocktails about everything, but I’d rather have a more nuanced and thoughtful approach. Both writers take on the context of the event and offer a more intelligent observation of what happened and why.
Sullivan cites the appearance of the Black Hebrew Israelites, a group akin to the Westboro Baptist Church. They are a hate group that screams bigoted, racist, and homophobic inflammatory language in public. He admonishes the media who jumped on the story and dismissed the Black Israelites appearance. He’s not wrong in calling them out.
Beutler takes on the MAGA-hate wearing high schoolers and calls them emblematic of the “ugly trends that have thrived in certain communities since before Donald Trump won the 2016 election.” He calls this Trumpism and, in turn, the Republican conservative movment.
Trumpism isn’t solely based on bigotry, misogyny, racism and homophobia, but it is based on the desire to say whatever one wants because of privilege or admiration.
It all seems so pathetic. I hope our country rejects these backwards thinking Neanderthals.