A writer must “know and have an ever-present consciousness that this world is a world of fools and rogues… tormented with envy, consumed with vanity; selfish, false, cruel, cursed with illusions… He should free himself of all doctrines, theories, etiquettes, politics…” —Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?). “The nobility of the writer's occupation lies in resisting oppression, thus in accepting isolation” —Albert Camus (1913-1960). “What are you gonna do” —Bertha Brown (1895-1987).
"A group of white teenagers, many wearing 'Make America Great Again' hats, were captured on video taunting a Native American Vietnam veteran singing during the first Indigenous People's March on Friday. The video, posted to YouTube by user KC Noland, went viral on Twitter.
"Nathan Phillips, the man mocked by the teenagers outside of the Lincoln Memorial, said in a video posted to Instagram by user ka_ya11 that he heard them chanting 'build that wall.'
"'This is indigenous land, you're not supposed to have walls here. We never did for a millennia. We never had a prison; we always took care of our elders, took care of our children, always provided for them, taught them right from wrong. I wish I could see that energy ... put that energy to making this country really, really great,' Phillips said, wiping away tears.
"The teenagers were identified on social media as attending Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky. They were in Washington, D.C., to attend the March for Life rally, an annual gathering of anti-abortion activists, which included an appearance from Vice President Mike Pence on Friday."
It is Trump and his white nationalism, his perfidious nationalism, his hateful racism, his infectious nihilism, his puerile dereliction, his provocative transgressions, his mocking disrespect, his impetuous vulgarity, his belligerent bullying, his pathological lying, his obsessive vindictiveness, his hypocritical cowardice, his compulsive xenophobia, his lawless demagoguery, his insufferable bigotry... that has given rise to "[Trump] youth."
"The boy facing Nathan is saying with his snarky white privilege smirk: 'you are beneath me.' Who does he think he is? Better than a man who served in Vietnam? Better than a man who is filled with years of wisdom and a man with a purpose to protect our planet? Better than a man who was at the Dakota Access Pipeline and tried to get the authorities to back down and go away because Nathan was protecting his lands, his water supply, and the water supply of EVERYONE who lived down stream from that pipeline and pond!
"This young boy doesn't know this, but he just showed the world how much he's got to learn! I hope consequences will help to speed up his knowledge about the Native Americans who were in this country first and are the biggest environmentalists on our planet!"-Joni Lindgren
Guess it is what to expect from people who live in a state where Mitch McConnell continues to get re-elected though he is the richest legislator from the poorest state.
"I want to share some of my truths for a moment with regard to the bigoted boys in Washington D.C., how people are saying what they did is the result of our racist administration, and the smirks on their faces as they mocked and jeered at and insulted Elder Phillips. These are not, by far, all of my experiences; just a select few.
"18 years ago, a white boy's mother tried to get me fired by alleging that I was not qualified to teach in this country, and that was why her son was failing my class (he had not turned in a single assignment). Fully expecting my firing during the meeting, her face and his matched these smirks.
"18 years ago, at the DMV in South Omaha, on 9/11/01, the white male DMV employee grabbed the hijab off a Somali woman's head to take her picture, and when I went to defend her, I saw this smirk on his face.
"17 years ago, another white boy raised his hand in my classroom on the anniversary of 9/11 and asked me if I knew the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were going to happen before they did. He then said we should 'turn that whole part of the world into glass using nuclear weapons.' His face matched these smirks.
"16 years ago, a boy sat in my class on the first day of school, arms crossed, and informed me that he doesn't 'listen to women' when I asked him to take out a pencil. His face matched these smirks.
"7 years ago, when interviewing a student for the program I was running in a high school, a white boy looked me in the eye and said, 'fair warning, I'm a neo-Nazi and I think Hitler was the greatest man who ever lived.' His face matched these smirks.
"6 years ago, when I got my job at the university, a white colleague congratulated me on getting the job, and then said, 'I guess they need to fill a quota, huh?' and the smirk on her face matched these smirks.
"6 months ago, a white male student stood up in class and raised his voice at me, telling me that white privilege doesn't exist, that 'you people like to play the victim so you exaggerate stories' and that we are 'snowflakes' and the smirk on his face matched these smirks.
"These smirks and slights and outright bigotry aren't new or the result of this administration. This racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and general sense of entitlement and bigotry are not new at all. We've been telling you about them for decades. Are you listening now?
"No, we don't need these kids to do community service to see how good they have it. Merely admonishing them while ignoring the culture in which they have been raised (and their parents and grandparents and so on) is nowhere near enough. We need to take a deep look at ourselves to see where these behaviors have been coming from and tackle the issue from the root of the problem. That requires a hard, honest, introspective, and uncomfortable look at the fact that we are all swimming in white supremacy, a cis-het patriarchy, and a sense that Christianity is better than any other way of living spirituality. The first step is acknowledging you have a problem, and I don't even think we are there yet.
"If you read this far, thank you for taking the time. I hope you are doing more work than that, though.
"The targets of bigotry don't need saving. The bigots do"-Ferial Pearson.
FROM THE DIOCESE OF COVINGTON AND COVINGTON CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL:
"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C. We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.
"The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.
"We know this incident also has tainted the entire witness of the March for Life and express our most sincere apologies to all those who attended the March and all those who support the pro-life movement."
"A group of white teenagers, many wearing 'Make America Great Again' hats, were captured on video taunting a Native American Vietnam veteran singing during the first Indigenous People's March on Friday. The video, posted to YouTube by user KC Noland, went viral on Twitter.
ReplyDelete"Nathan Phillips, the man mocked by the teenagers outside of the Lincoln Memorial, said in a video posted to Instagram by user ka_ya11 that he heard them chanting 'build that wall.'
"'This is indigenous land, you're not supposed to have walls here. We never did for a millennia. We never had a prison; we always took care of our elders, took care of our children, always provided for them, taught them right from wrong. I wish I could see that energy ... put that energy to making this country really, really great,' Phillips said, wiping away tears.
"The teenagers were identified on social media as attending Covington Catholic High School in Park Hills, Kentucky. They were in Washington, D.C., to attend the March for Life rally, an annual gathering of anti-abortion activists, which included an appearance from Vice President Mike Pence on Friday."
It is Trump and his white nationalism, his perfidious nationalism, his hateful racism, his infectious nihilism, his puerile dereliction, his provocative transgressions, his mocking disrespect, his impetuous vulgarity, his belligerent bullying, his pathological lying, his obsessive vindictiveness, his hypocritical cowardice, his compulsive xenophobia, his lawless demagoguery, his insufferable bigotry... that has given rise to "[Trump] youth."
ReplyDelete"The boy facing Nathan is saying with his snarky white privilege smirk: 'you are beneath me.' Who does he think he is? Better than a man who served in Vietnam? Better than a man who is filled with years of wisdom and a man with a purpose to protect our planet? Better than a man who was at the Dakota Access Pipeline and tried to get the authorities to back down and go away because Nathan was protecting his lands, his water supply, and the water supply of EVERYONE who lived down stream from that pipeline and pond!
ReplyDelete"This young boy doesn't know this, but he just showed the world how much he's got to learn! I hope consequences will help to speed up his knowledge about the Native Americans who were in this country first and are the biggest environmentalists on our planet!"-Joni Lindgren
Guess it is what to expect from people who live in a state where Mitch McConnell continues to get re-elected though he is the richest legislator from the poorest state.
ReplyDelete"I want to share some of my truths for a moment with regard to the bigoted boys in Washington D.C., how people are saying what they did is the result of our racist administration, and the smirks on their faces as they mocked and jeered at and insulted Elder Phillips. These are not, by far, all of my experiences; just a select few.
ReplyDelete"18 years ago, a white boy's mother tried to get me fired by alleging that I was not qualified to teach in this country, and that was why her son was failing my class (he had not turned in a single assignment). Fully expecting my firing during the meeting, her face and his matched these smirks.
"18 years ago, at the DMV in South Omaha, on 9/11/01, the white male DMV employee grabbed the hijab off a Somali woman's head to take her picture, and when I went to defend her, I saw this smirk on his face.
"17 years ago, another white boy raised his hand in my classroom on the anniversary of 9/11 and asked me if I knew the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were going to happen before they did. He then said we should 'turn that whole part of the world into glass using nuclear weapons.' His face matched these smirks.
"16 years ago, a boy sat in my class on the first day of school, arms crossed, and informed me that he doesn't 'listen to women' when I asked him to take out a pencil. His face matched these smirks.
"7 years ago, when interviewing a student for the program I was running in a high school, a white boy looked me in the eye and said, 'fair warning, I'm a neo-Nazi and I think Hitler was the greatest man who ever lived.' His face matched these smirks.
"6 years ago, when I got my job at the university, a white colleague congratulated me on getting the job, and then said, 'I guess they need to fill a quota, huh?' and the smirk on her face matched these smirks.
"6 months ago, a white male student stood up in class and raised his voice at me, telling me that white privilege doesn't exist, that 'you people like to play the victim so you exaggerate stories' and that we are 'snowflakes' and the smirk on his face matched these smirks.
"These smirks and slights and outright bigotry aren't new or the result of this administration. This racism, sexism, Islamophobia, and general sense of entitlement and bigotry are not new at all. We've been telling you about them for decades. Are you listening now?
"No, we don't need these kids to do community service to see how good they have it. Merely admonishing them while ignoring the culture in which they have been raised (and their parents and grandparents and so on) is nowhere near enough. We need to take a deep look at ourselves to see where these behaviors have been coming from and tackle the issue from the root of the problem. That requires a hard, honest, introspective, and uncomfortable look at the fact that we are all swimming in white supremacy, a cis-het patriarchy, and a sense that Christianity is better than any other way of living spirituality. The first step is acknowledging you have a problem, and I don't even think we are there yet.
"If you read this far, thank you for taking the time. I hope you are doing more work than that, though.
"The targets of bigotry don't need saving. The bigots do"-Ferial Pearson.
FROM THE DIOCESE OF COVINGTON AND COVINGTON CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL:
ReplyDelete"We condemn the actions of the Covington Catholic High School students towards Nathan Phillips specifically, and Native Americans in general, Jan. 18, after the March for Life, in Washington, D.C. We extend our deepest apologies to Mr. Phillips. This behavior is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.
"The matter is being investigated and we will take appropriate action, up to and including expulsion.
"We know this incident also has tainted the entire witness of the March for Life and express our most sincere apologies to all those who attended the March and all those who support the pro-life movement."