Okay, let me teach every young, White millennial something real quick, that you may not have learned in school or in your home. Let’s call it White Supremacy 101.
If you are a young, White millennial who decides to publicly declare that you are a self-identified White supremacist, who wants to be known for their toxic White supremacist views and spewing racist rhetoric for the entire world to see, then might I suggest that you at least learn a lil’ something from your ancestors and your predecessors, if you really aren’t ready to deal with the repercussions of your decision?
If you are going to come out of the closet of White supremacy like that, at least use some common White supremacist sense and embrace your White racist historical pride by investing in some freakin’ Ku Klux Klan (KKK) regalia for God’s sake.
You know what I mean… take the time to invest in a white robe and a white hood, if you are White and want to keep your job or social status, while still being able to express your racist views in public…duh!
I mean isn’t that what most White supremacists, namely members of the KKK, have historically done when they wanted to hide their identities, while openly expressing their twisted White supremacist views and carrying out their sinister and evil acts of domestic terrorism on minority groups in this country – particularly inflicting those acts of domestic terrorism on Black people?
Of course I’m being facetious, and am not encouraging White supremacists to actually do this, but how else could White supremacists hold on to their jobs, positions of power or social status, without being properly identified as the cowardly culprits responsible for carrying out their extremely violent acts against minority groups – particularly Black people?
Historically, many White supremacists and members of the KKK, have been members of law enforcement, businessmen and businesswomen, politicians, evangelicals and ministers, judges, health care professionals, lawyers, CEOs, owners of sports franchises, entertainment executives, community leaders and other prominent citizens, and they wore KKK regalia as a means to hide their true identity while carrying out their sinister actions.
Fast forward to modern times, and the same thing rings true. Now, however, we have White supremacists who wear invisible KKK costumes, and operate in positions of authority and influence, consistently hiding their true identity and their White supremacist beliefs from us.
Why is this all important?
While many White supremacists, particularly members of the KKK, still proudly and publicly wear their traditional KKK costumes, many of them do not, as was evidenced at the White supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, several weeks ago.
Hundreds of emboldened White supremacists descended on the college town of Charlottesville to protest plans the city had to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a local park. These White supremacists were full of hate and bigotry, so much so that the gathering became violent, leading to an ugly chain of events that resulted in one White supremacist, James Alex Fields, Jr., being amped up on so much of that hatred and bigotry, that he decided to get in his car and callously drive it into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 other people.
That’s right, Fields committed this horrible act of domestic terrorism, as part of a culture of hatred and bigotry that was displayed as White supremacists – neo-Nazis, skinheads and members of the Ku Klux Klan – carried TIKI torches as they marched through the University of Virginia campus. The entire racist scene had been set for something, like what Fields did, to be carried out.
Interestingly, these White supremacists were so bold, that they didn’t even bother to cover their faces or wear the standard KKK regalia. They wanted to let the world see them…or at least that is what most of them thought they wanted. Most of the White supremacists who showed up at the rally did not know that their decision would cost them dearly.
Folks on social media, particularly those on Twitter, immediately began working collaboratively together to expose many of the participants at that White supremacy rally, causing many of the White supremacists to pay a price for their decision.
A few of the White supremacist attendees stayed true to their convictions surrounding their support of White supremacy, but many of the attendees gained instant public fame, and as a result of their attendance have since tried to explain that they aren’t racist. It hasn’t helped, however.
Many of these White supremacists have become social media villains; losing their jobs, losing friends, having their family disown them and losing the respect of most respectable people in the world, particularly on social media. This is still very disturbing to me, however.
While these White supremacists may be losing their jobs or being exposed on social media, it doesn’t change the fact that they have these strong beliefs and are willing to do almost anything, including murdering someone, who they consider to be a threat to their sick and twisted ideology.
Many of the attendees have gained even more respect and celebrity status as a result of this attention, and have probably already been welcomed with open arms back into their communities; communities where hatred, bigotry and White supremacy are regularly and openly celebrated.
And guess what? President Donald Trump’s vacillation and refusal to completely disavow White Supremacists, and his previous attempts to claim ignorance by acting like he didn’t even know who former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke or the KKK was, should be even more of a dangerous, dangerous red flag to us all.
So guess what America? Charlottesville should serve as an eye-opener, and real-life wakeup call for those who have been living in a protective bubble, oblivious to the fact we have a bunch of young White millennials like James Alex Fields, Jr., Dylann Roof and many others, eager to learn from their White supremacist predecessors, and willing to boldly carry the “TIKI torch” of White supremacy into the future. Let’s just hope they don’t embrace that old practice of wearing the KKK costumes, but that they continue to do it in the open for all of us to see who they truly are.
Jeffrey L. Boney serves as Associate Editor and is an award-winning journalist for the Houston Forward Times newspaper. Jeffrey has been a frequent contributor on the Nancy Grace Show and Primetime Justice with Ashleigh Banfield. Jeffrey has a national daily radio talk show called Real Talk with Jeffrey L. Boney, and is a dynamic, international speaker, experienced entrepreneur, business development strategist and Founder/CEO of the Texas Business Alliance. If you would like to request Jeffrey as a speaker, you can reach him at jboney1@forwardtimes.com