If the workers of the world want to win, all they have to do is recognize their own solidarity. The

Saturday, May 29, 2021

The Things You Are Getting Wrong About White Supremacists Is What Allows Them To Grow ~~ Gwen Frisbie-Fulton

White mob before breaking into the US Capitol on January 6th, 2020.
Twitter users helped crowdsource information to figure out who the man carrying zip ties into the Senate chambers to, presumably, take hostages.
White supremacists pose in front of the Vinlander’s house. Photo from South Side Chicago Anti-Racist Action.
Brien James (left in center photo) poses with another Vinlander. Source: ADL
The two crossed meat-cleavers of the American Guard logo references “Bill the Butcher,” a fictionalized version of William Pool, the leader of the Bowery Boys, a New York City street gang infamous for its violent attacks on immigrants. Source: ADL
Trying to find a more contemporary and palatable white nationalism, Brien James ditched the neo-Nazi Vinlanders and founded the Indiana American Guard. He began claiming he was no longer be racist but instead a “nationalist” and a “patriot” — language that we all should be becoming familiar with today. To prove he was no longer racist, Brien started posting content on his social media channels from far-right conservative Blacks like Candice Owens and the Hodgetwins, mixed in with dog-whistle content everywhere else. His kinder, more gentle facade, of course, was mostly talk and his actual agenda didn’t seem to change. The first time I saw Brien James after leaving my neighborhood was nearly a decade later: He marched with his American Guard right into the fray, armed with sticks and batons, in Charlottesville.

Now, the day of the attack on the Capital building, Brien James is the head of the Indiana Proud Boys and talking to journalists — something Briend James of 20 years ago never would have been able to do. The Indy Star interviewed him as if he were just a protestor or another guy with an opinion that needs to be heard in the interest of fair reporting. A quick Google search, however, reveals that just a month ago, James was promoting the Million Maga March in DC (another event that turned into dangerous street violence) with a video that used the fascist Mannerbund Anthem as its soundtrack.
Brien James seemed more inspired on January 6th than he came across in his interview with the Indianapolis Star.

I’m not a journalist and don’t know much about it: I’m just a mom who lived next door to a neo-Nazi and who knows what that does to communities like mine. I am not asking for journalists to be activists, but if the Indianapolis Star and other publications provide a platform without putting people like Brien James in context, and if people in my community continue to focus on outdated tropes without looking harder, then these movements grow and grow and grow until…Well, this week we saw what happens when we let it grow.

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