Martha King

I recently read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between The World And Me and the above was one of many passages that really shook me. I highly recommend the book if you want to learn more about the Black Lives Matter movement in the US (or if you want to just read some damn fine writing).

Get the book from Amazon here.

This diversity of design underscores an important point about black fashion designers: There isn’t any single “black style.”

I’m really alarmed by the misinformation I see on social media right now, so here is a little simplified guide to WTF is going on.

(Edited to work better for tumblr, I originally just made screenshots for Twitter)

What is a NAZI?

Nazi is an abbreviation for National Socialism (Nationalsozialismus) an ideology associated primarily with the 20th-century German Nazi Party (especially while it was being led by Adolt Hitler). The idea that National Socialism lived and died primarily through Hitler is actually a myth propagated by post-war propaganda and Hollywood. America destroyed those Nazis!! YAY!! – Wrong, They still exist. Although not under that name. Any far-right groups is basically a “Nazi” party (many even used the term “National Socialism” until a re-branding in the 80’s.

The German political scientist Klaus von Beyme describes three historical phases in the development of far-right parties in Western Europe after World War II.

From 1945 to the mid-1950s, far-right parties were marginalized, and their ideologies were discredited due to the recent existence and defeat of Nazism – because people were murdered. In droves. Like millions of people. Death camps are REAL. 11 million people died, including 1.1 million children. Thus in the years immediately following World War II, the main objective of far-right parties was survival; achieving any political impact at all, was largely not expected.

From the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the so-called “populist protest phase” emerged with sporadic electoral success. During this period, far-right parties drew to them charismatic leaders whose profound mistrust of the political establishment led to an “us-versus-them” mind set: “us” being the nation’s citizenry, “them” being the politicians and bureaucrats who were then in office; beginning in the 1980s, the electoral successes of far-right political candidates made it possible for far-right political parties to revitalize anti-immigration as a mainstream issue.

What does anybody in the far right REALLY support?

How politics work is that there is two sides. The right and the left. In the middle, Liberalism and democracy.

The far-right isn’t about the “working man” at all. That’s what the LEFT is about. The Left is ALL about the public being in control. There is currently no major leftist parties in power in America (Democrats are closer to the middle - center-right, actually. They just get called the left party because nobody is).

What the right really advocates is private economic ownership (aka the rich getting’ richer), racial hierarchy (whites better than everyone else) and Social Darwinism (which is the idea that “weak” humans, aka the old, the sick, etc, deserve to be removed. That means gradually killed. Don’t get attached to your grandma). Extreme right-wing politicians are usually extreme nationalists (“bringing back JOBS to AMERICANS” = eventually they will exploit you as workers void of rights), and are opposed to immigration. They are also profoundly chauvinistic (that means women are seen as inferior).

Is Trump a representative of the extreme right?

Most definitely, since he supports all that was listed above. Loudly, too.

So, Trump isn’t going to really help the so-called American Working Man?

Who even is that? Everybody American works, no matter who they are. But if you mean that you’re a white middle class American, then you’ll get candy for a year and then be abused just like the rest of us. You’re already losing your rights to free information and healthcare. So, you might as well join the fight with us.

Who is Richard B. Spencer?

Richard Bertrand Spencer (born May 11, 1978) is an American white nationalist, known for promoting white supremacist views. He is president of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist think-tank, and Washington Summit Publishers, an independent publishing firm. Spencer has stated that he rejects the description of white supremacist, and describes himself as an identitarian. He advocates for a white homeland for a “dispossessed white race” and calls for “peaceful ethnic cleansing” to halt the “deconstruction” of European culture.

The Identitarian movement is a European political movement that started in France in 2002 and is basically all about destroying anybody who is a shade darker then milk. The Identitarian movement has a close linkage to members of the German New Right, aka Neo-Nazis.

So this guy is definitely a “Nazi”.

Was it ok to punch him?

It’s never ok to punch someone who has not provoked you. HOWEVER, what Spencer is doing is saying: I want to hurt people. I want to hurt people a lot. Not today. But, tomorrow, maybe. His very existence and allegiance is a constant menace. Picture it this way, if you met a guy in the park and he said hi, I don’t have a gun today, but I might tomorrow, and I might come back to shoot people, would you just ignore him? No. So in conclusion, march peacefully, but do punch Nazis. 

I really want to point this out because it’s a legitimate thing that Trump is far more extreme right than you may think. It also explains why this is a thing that happened. See, compared to many other countries in the world, my own included, the American political spectrum is offset to the right.

So what OP said about there not being an extreme left is absolutely true, there’s barely a left to begin with.

Sourcity-Sourcey-Source

I’d like to point out that this is a recorded phenomenon in political science and not my own biased interpretation of your politics. Noam Chomsky—cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist among other things (this guy pops up in my university classes from time to time; the dude’s part of the curriculum whether that says anything to you or not)—has been pretty outspoken about this.

“… so what [Republicans have] done is mobilized sectors of the population that have always been there but have never really been politically mobilized, like Evangelical Christians, the nativists who are afraid that ‘they’ are taking our country away from us, white racists, … gun-people who are so terrified that they have to carry their guns into church because maybe somebody’ll come after them. 

You know, these sectors of the population are there, and that’s now the base of the Republican party.”

So, this election night was a shocking, absolutely horrifying blow to my American friends. Even my friends here in Canada couldn’t come to terms with it. I saw panic attacks, fears about even visiting American relatives in the States again, and even a depressive loss of faith in humanity. How could this be where the world is today?

Because, it’s this gradual shift to the right that’s so insidious, that happened for a variety of complex reasons, I’m sure, that can to some make it seem like the current Republican party is a reasonable center-right party, when in actuality they are legitimately far right. And as such, able to take advantage of these small groups on the outside that have desperately wanted a podium for a long time.

It’s also important to point out that this isn’t just the United States and it never really was. Even now, because of Brexit and Trump’s election, the radical nationalist/fascist/racist/sexist/whatever end of the political spectrum is now being galvanized globally with the success and encouragement of this and aided by political echo-chambers in media, the internet, and small communities.

Amazing designer Pia Conaghan now debuting with her own brand ’Studio Pia’ ~ Model: Sophie Young ~ Photographer: Alex Charilaou (Ever Photography)