Why are we confused and offended by someone who punched a neo-Nazi?
On Inauguration Day, Richard Spencer was interviewing about claims made about him being a neo-Nazi. After Spencer explained the purpose of his Pepe pin — the adopted symbol of the “alt-right” — an anonymous bystander in a mask punched Spencer in the head.
Spencer is the white supremacist leader of the “alt-right,” defined by the Associated Press as a white nationalist movement, also known as the alternative right party. He promotes homophobia, anti-Semitism, and anti-feminism.
It’s not a stretch for someone to read the term anti-Semitism and be reminded of the Nazi party. Neo-Nazism is a rebirth of Nazi ideals and a continuation the Nazi party.
Yes, violence is not the answer. It’s never the answer, just like it wasn’t the answer during all of the wars we, as a nation, have participated in or how it was never the answer to supposedly suspicious young black men.
At the annual National Policy Institute in November 2016, Spencer and his followers saluted Trump’s victory and hailed our new president. The Atlantic reported during the conference that Spencer spoke about his dreams of an ethnostate that was primarily European. He even promoted “peaceful ethnic cleansing.”
People want to cry out for peaceful protest and to refrain from violence in these situations, but Spencer and his white nationalist party have put a monetary bounty on the person who punched him. Spencer has shared the links to the donation site to fund the $300,000 — and growing — bounty on the anonymous attacker.
People didn’t have a problem when pop culture icons such as Captain America were punching Nazis. It must be easier to justify violence in fiction than in real life.
I do not want to live in a country filled with neo-Nazis. We cannot simply ignore the rising of the “alt-right” or its intentions.
We also should take care not to ignore the support of the “alt-right” for our freshly inaugurated president.
I’m not going to advocate for punching people we don’t agree with, but I’m also not going to protect “alt-right” figures who promoted the idea of an ethnic cleansing.
mmgarbac@umail.iu.edu
