Monday, December 4, 2017

Larsen Nichols- The Nazis take SMU


The other night, 5 men from the Texas chapter of Vanguard America, an American Nazi white supremacy group, posted signs around the campus of SMU, which evidently none of them attend. They claimed the signs were meant to stop the opioid epidemic, but they actually contained incredibly bigoted, racist, homophobic, and hateful messages. This has been happening at other Texas colleges since February. 

This article was written by Paul Murphy at CNN, and updated earlier tonight. Murphy covers domestic and international breaking news.  Before I read this article, I knew that multiple Nazi chapters and organizations existed across the U.S, but I had no idea it was so close to home. SMU is incredibly close to our school, and I'm sure plenty of Booker T. alums have gone there. The Nazi issue didn't seem real to me until now. This article was written for more liberal audiences, and generally, non-Nazis. It has a negative effect on that audience. It was written to inform people of this issue and to make sure they knew all the facts of what this Vanguard America does and believes in. 
The events of this article disgust me. These people are actively recruiting more and more members and spreading hate. I don't know why Twitter didn't take down their page sooner, seeing as they have a no-hate policy. It's inexcusable for Twitter to let messages like this circulate around.

Synthesis: The events of this article are similar to the southern fire-eater's propagation of false, racist, and hateful information surrounding slavery and the abolition movement during and surrounding the Civil War. 

3 comments:

  1. It's terrifying to live in a society where the commander in chief of the us doesn't openly and consistently condemn neo-nazis since they are a group providing him votes.

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  2. It is horrific to simply see that there are YOUNG neo-nazis doing this but even worse to know that it is so close to home. I think it's easy for us to ignore what has been going on since it's always been somewhere far away like Charlottesville for example. But the issue becomes more real when its at a place you drive by everyday.

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  3. Although free speech is allowed, no opinion that is for the mass oppression of people deserves to be heard.

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