We really, really, really want to take credit for this, but it was sent by a reader and refers to our previous article reporting
Kyle McKee's arrest.
We did feel the need to share it though, because it's funny and because it is emblematic of our level of maturity anyways.
12 comments:
Hilarious!
Glad you like it! Couldn't resist after reading the news of McKee!
Unfortunately I missed the photoshop contest during Paulis election campaign so I took the chance on this one.
' Mission statement we will not use or sanction the use of illegal actions (such as violence or intimidation) in pursuit of our desired aims' I applaud your stance of non violence but it is flawed, when the nazis come marching through your town to terrorise your neighbourhood im afraid words will not stop them. You say that you will use 'Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that ensure freedom of legal speech and expression.' Well i dont agree with this either One cannot rationally “debate” with those who systematically lie about their real aims and views, nor can one “debate” those who use terror tactics and thuggery against ethnic minorities, trade unionists and anyone who disagrees with them.I will give you an example of this as this is not a new debate. In January 1933, with Adolf Hitler about to be made chancellor of Germany, the socialist leader Rudolf Hilferding claimed that “legality will be his undoing”.
within a decade Hilferding had been tortured and killed in a Gestapo prison and his wife murdered at Auschwitz.As i said earlier i applaud you and say well done but take a lesson from history.
Well, we aren't pacifists either. If someone tries to harm us, we will defend ourselves. We do believe that in most cases, education does a much better job than violence. There are a number of people we've helped to leave the Movement who can attest to this being true.
We do however understand where you're coming from.
To Anonymous number three:
The word is a much mightier weapon to use in this battle. By using the same violence these racists use, you will be not different from them at all in your way to achieve your goal.
Your example with Hitler and Hilferding is way more complex, as Hitler was built up by people behind him using him as a puppet to achieve goals, backed up by industrial companies and families in Germany. The overall situation cannot be compared with todays society and/or economy that led to a fast rise of Hitler and the people pulling the strings from behind.
I'll give you an example. I am a German immigrant, part of my family was forced to be NSDAP members and SA/SSS. The other part was hunted by the Nazis, raped, wiped out and crippled. So I am really sensitive to this matter.
Just recently I went to a gas station in Calgary to fill up my car. When I went in to pay, the guy behind the counter noticed my accent and asked where I'm from. When I said "Germany", he said "Oh, great, Heil Hitler!" and told me what a great guy he was and the great things he did. In Germany I would have grabbed his head and smashed it in the counter, everybody would understand it as the remark is inappropriate and for the words "Heil Hitler" you face prison time.
Now if I would have done that here, what do you think would have happened? The security camera would have shown a big bald Caucasian skinhead attacking a poor guy from Afghanistan. Nobody would have cared that he was insulting me in the worst possible way or believe that he is an anti-Semite asshole. The same goes for the manager who I talked to in order to complain, he told me he thinks Hitler is a great guy as well.
So instead of beating the living hell out of these people for the insults, I sent a letter to the gas station owner, telling them what happened. I got a written apology, at least one of them got fired and they lost me and all my colleagues/friends as customers.
I am not familiar with the legal situation in Canada, but after attending the protest of the latest Aryan Guard march where they did the Hitler salute in front of the police without any problems, I doubt calling the police would have helped.
Violence only leads to media and others not focusing on what you have to say, they only care about the interesting part, seeing how people beat the living hell out of each other. It will only damage the reputation of the anti-fascist/anti-racist movement, as the public will think it is the same as the white supremacist movement, a bunch of violent idiots.
Like nos200 said, self-defense is a whole different story. If you get attacked, defend yourself in the way you get attacked.
Anon #3 As a Calgarian, Nazis have come marching through my town. Words didn't stop them, and neither did violence, a united community standing up and physically preventing them from marching did. This was largely non-violent, although it was a bit chaotic and a few projectiles were thrown, most of the violence came from the police who were completely unprepared and wholly incompetent.
The anon who posted "As a Calgarian, Nazis have come marching through my town..." is 100% bang on.
I've attended the last 3 March 21 demos and that is exactly the lesson I learned: community action wins the day and the police are just big bullies.
In all fairness, I think the Calgary police didn't do such a bad job during the latest protest. Overall it was pretty peaceful and I was surprised not to be shot with teargas, water cannons, get batons smashed on my face or head.
Just have a look at how the police in Germany looks and reacts when trying to keep Nazis and protesters separated, these are pictures of the latest clash in Dresden when the Nazis tried to remember the "bomb holocaust" of the allied forces against the city of Dresden (click the arrow next to "1 von 7" to browse through the pictures):
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-64842.html
Although I'm not writing specifically in regards to McKee, I figured this was a recent post and I'd like to pose a question to those on the site; do you oppose racism in all it's forms? Or just with regards to white supremacist groups?
The reason I ask this is that I firmly believe that racism is not confined to whites. Racism is present in any society, black, white, Asian, the list goes on. One need only refer to historical events such as the rape of Nanking, the Rawandan genocide or the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans.
Another example comes from a story my girlfriend had mentioned to me. A friend of hers (who is Asian) comes from a very 'traditional' Asian family. Now, this girl was dating a Caucasian fellow. However the girl was telling my girlfriend how she couldn't tell her parents that she was dating a non-Asian as her parents would "loose it". So in this instance, do we give this a pass under the 'traditional' banner, or would you publicly denounce this girl's parents as a bunch of racists?
Another example would be the time I spent working in the community on a First Nations reserve. Although I was eventually accepted into the community and still maintain some very close ties there, there was, and still is an enormous amount of anti-Anglo sentiment there. Now, I realize that there have been a number of causes and abuses that have fed that sentiment. However does that make this type of sentiment justified, or is it racism?
What I want to know is a) does your organization tolerate racist views of non-whites? and b) if so, what actions have you taken to combat racist views from non-white groups? c) if not, why are non-white racist views not addressed by your organization? (and don't say they don't exist because I saw and heard them when they were directed at me during my first few months on the Reserve)
The point I'm making is that racism is not only a white problem, it's everyone's problem. However I often get the sense that the neo-Nazi groups are simply the easiest to rail against since there are no real social repercussions to opposing neo-Nazi groups i.e. no one outside of their organization is going to question actions against them lest they be labelled a bigot by proxy.
Now, I think I need to make it very clear that while I don't have a problem with 'white pride' per-se I do have an issue with those who feel that it needs to come at the expense of other races. I have always had an interest in other cultures, i.e. working with First Nations (which is an experience I wouldn't have traded for the world) and will continue to do so.
As an individual of Norse heritage, I feel that taking pride in your heritage is enough in and of itself. Violent actions in the name of white pride only serve to attach a negative stigma to taking open pride in a 'white' heritage, be it Norse or European.
However I feel that in order for anti-racist movements to be legitimate, they need to address ALL forms of racism. You can't pick and choose which forms of racism you oppose simply because it's politically correct or convenient to target a particular group.
Anyway, I would invite replies to this post from both sides so long as they're constructive and well thought out. I have no interest in starting some juvenile flame war as I've seen enough from the some of the threads here.
Thank you.
Anon 8:
I think the "anti-white" racism you describe is not actually racism, but a reaction to white privilege. (Except the historical events you bring up.)
But in regards to anti-white sentiment, I don't think it is fair to call that racism. I too have qualms with this blog, in that it only really tackles "overt racism" (ie actions of white supremacists) and tends to ignore "covert racism" (ie systemic racism in all its forms).
Racism is generally understood to be a system of oppression, in which here (i'm assuming most readers are from Canada) privileges whiteness, at the expense of people of colour. It's about the racialization of poverty, environmental racism, the continued exploitation/dehumanization of indigenous peoples, upon whose lands white settlers colonized, countless other things, and systemic white supremacy.
Since racism serves to privilege certain bodies, while disadvantaging other bodies, I don't think "anti-white" racism exists per se, in this time and place.
White people reading this blog should check out Peggy McIntoshs White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf
Anonymous #8
There have been posts here that discuss non-White racism/bigotry. Just recently there was a lengthy article documenting the charm that is Ron Banerjee and his particular brand of hate. I've also seen other articles that discuss/denounce non-White bigots and their hate groups. I imagine the actual moderators can give you more specific details than I can as merely a regular reader of this blog.
I think you'll find that the reason why groups like ARC et al focus on White racism is that unlike other forms of racism there is not even minimal rationale for White racism. The various forms of non-White racism like the ones you mentioned have at least a history of exploitation and oppression by us pasty folks to offer that minimal rationale. Has anyone been really oppressing Whites besides other Whites? Not too much. Sure you'll get dirty looks sometimes in non-White neighbourhoods and called things like gwai-lo or gora or cracker. And yes you may even get beaten up which sucks but that is pretty pale in comparison to what other groups have gone through because of systemic White racism.
Not to say that their racial hate is justifiable, it's just a little bit more understandable. It's still stupid and I don't doubt that many of its adherents will use this minimal rationale to prevent themselves from having to examine why they are racist assholes and change their attitudes. It's just harder to accept such attitudes from someone who's background is that of the racial group who have dominated the world for the past few centuries.
Like I said before though I'm just a regular reader and that's my take on things. If the reasons that the writers of ARC focus on White racism are different from what I see the reasons being I'm sure they'll point it out.
About the question there somebody asked. There is definitely racism from all peoples and directed at all peoples. The reason why I so strongly oppose this "white pride" nonsense, it is not the same as other peoples showing their pride at all. For example, the people behind the march for one day put on a "show" pretty much and say it's about pride. These same people have done many things to show that's not what it's about.
For example "heil Hitler", calling yourself ***** DeadJews Reitmeier on Facebook, talking about "hating with a pure and perfect hatred" Antifa and Communists, calling your gang of dick-trees the "Aryan Terror Brigade", having members of your groups walk up and down streets in Edmonton and hand out flyers and then stomp people of color, and refer to yourselves as White (and it MUST be capitalized) while calling other races "negroes" and "mongols" (and I'm using your politest exapmles). you idiots have demonstrated it's not only about making sure white people remain to have a spot in society and admiring your peoples accomplishments. It's about driving out from your "white country" or murdering anyone who does not fit the form of a Nordic white right wing straight Christian.
If there were black folk for example, who decided to call an event black pride, BUT talked about taking over cities and driving out or murdering whites and other groups, you can bet your ass I'd go down and protest, as an ANTI RACIST. But I have yet to hear of that happening. And the examples of black racism is often disorganized (or organized crime) ignorant violence and not organized racist activities such as the march in Calgary and the goofs who organized it.
As well I do realize there may be some form of "white privilege" but this is greatly exaggerated! I am white and from a fairly good home, didn't mess up my schooling, and I ended up living in a vehicle for a bit. Being white meant NOTHING when I was considered to be on the lowest rung in a CLASS BASED society. This is why in this day and age i think it is more a Class Privilege (that white folks also often get cause more whites are rich), that brings them ahead.
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