#Heil WHITE Jesus

[evilmark999]

Also, "the great awakening" is what the people spouting "woke is bad" are saying, now? That figures...

[uncloseted]

This is so off topic lol but does anyone else remember when PewDiePie the YouTuber was like..a n*zi?? Like I feel like everyone just forgot about him doing a bunch of really offensive stuff and he still gives me the ick to this day bc of all the stuff he did. Did he give some really grand apology or do people just not give a crap?

So there's a lot to say about this, but the quick TL;DR is that he's an edgelord who made his career on "ironically" being offensive, but I don't think that makes him a Nazi, that other edgelords really don't care if he's said offensive things, because they also think that kind of humor is funny, and that at least some of his followers are actually neo-Nazis, white supremacists, or part of the far-right, so they unironically agree with the offensive things he's said.

First, just for the sake of combating cancel culture more than anything else (I know, I'm horrible at being a leftist), I want to investigate this claim that "PewDiePie is a Nazi". We're seeing some essentialism in that claim- instead of criticizing whatever PewDiePie has said or done, it's escalating the claim into an accusation about the kind of person PewDiePie is- "a Nazi". Because of that, I want to take a step back and look at the controversial things PewDiePie has actually said or done so that we can all be on the same page for the rest of this conversation.

Let me know if I missed any, but the controversies I could identify are the following:

criticized for making rape jokes and trivializing sexual assault (2012)

In his early videos, PewDiePie made jokes about sexual assault. These were usually in the context of referring to beating his video game opponents as “raping” them, but also included a video called "It's Raping Time". When called out about it by fans in October of 2012, PewDiePie posted the following response on his Tumblr and took down the video in question. From what I can tell, the rape jokes ended after that.

Joked about joining ISIS on Twitter (2016)

In August of 2016, PewDiePie tweeted the following and got temporarily kicked off of Twitter:

The context here is that PewDiePie unverified himself on Twitter in protest over the company’s “annoying” verification process. After he became unverified, an obviously fake tweet which appeared to be from Sky News claimed that he was unverified on Twitter “due to suspected relations with ISIS.” PewDiePie's tweet is purported to be in response to Sky News' tweet, which he found ridiculous.

Anti-semetic Jokes (January 2017)

In 2018, A Wall Street Journal report found that nine of his videos, between August 2016 and February 2017, included "anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery". The big one here is a January 11th video that included two men laughing as they held a banner that read, “Death to all Jews,” and a Jan. 22 video, in which a man dressed as Jesus Christ says, “Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.” Both videos were taken down in 2018. He also showed a clip from a Hitler speech in a Sept. 24 video criticizing a YouTube policy, posted swastikas drawn by his fans on Oct. 15 and watched a Hitler video in a brown military uniform to end a Dec. 8 video. He played the Nazi Party anthem before bowing to a swastika in a mock resurrection ritual on Jan. 14, and included a very brief Nazi salute with a Hitler voice-over saying “Sieg Heil” and the text “Nazi Confirmed” near the beginning of a Feb. 5 video.

PewDiePie responded to the controversy with the following:

In other statements about the incident, he has said that, "I’m sorry for the words that I used, as I know they offended people, and I admit that the joke itself went too far. I do strongly believe that you can joke about anything, but I also believe that there’s a right way and not the best way to joke about things. I acknowledge that I took things too far and that’s something I definitely will keep in mind going forward, but the reaction and the outrage has been nothing but insanity.” He also said that, "If for some reason Nazis think it's great I'm making these jokes, I don't want to give them that benefit so I'm going to stop doing it. It's not me censoring myself. It's more like I don't want to part of it."

Saying the N word on a livestream (September 2017)

This one is pretty much what it sounds like. While livestreaming PUBG on YouTube Gaming, he used the n-word in an expletive-laden rant.

He later apologized in a video called, "My Response" saying, "It was something I said in the heat of the moment, I said the worst word I could possibly think of, and it just sort of slipped out. I’m disappointed in myself because it seems like I’ve learned nothing from all these past controversies. It’s not that I think I can say or do whatever I want and get away with it, that’s not it at all, I’m just an idiot, but that doesn’t make what I said or how I said it OK. Being in the position I am, I should know better. I know I can't keep messing up like this, and I owe it to my audience and to myself to do better than this, because I know I'm better than this. I really want to improve myself and better myself, not just for me, but for anyone that looks up to me, or anyone that's influenced by me, and that's how I want to move forward away from this." Earlier in that same video, he discussed the culture of gaming that includes the casual use of racial slurs.

Called (some) female gamers "stupid Twitch thots" (May 2018)

This one is also pretty much what it sounds like. In a video, PewDiePie claimed that "Twitch thots" are hurting “actual, decent female streamers" because they "are just interested in making a buck through parasocial relationships.” I don't think there was really an apology for this one.

Insensitive Demi Lovato meme (July 2018)

This one I don't totally understand, but the gist of it is that PewDiePie posted a meme on Twitter about Demi Lovato's drug addiction after she overdosed in 2018.

PewDiePie's response was, "Deleted meme. I didnt mean anything with it and I didnt fully know about the situation. I realize now it was insensitive, sorry!"

Promoting anti-Semitic channel E;R (December 2018)

In December of 2018, PewDiePie released a video in which he says, "You also have E;R, who does great video essays. He did one on Death Note, which I really, really enjoyed." E;R is a YouTube channel that, among other things, was criticised for making a joke that included a parallel between the Charlottesville rally and Netflix series Death Note.

PewDiePie responded to criticism by saying, "They have hidden Nazi references in their videos, obviously if I noticed that I wouldn’t have referenced him in the shout out. Not because I have a problem with Nazi references being offensive in themselves, but because I said that I was going to distance myself from Nazi jokes. Generally, I’ve done that. I don’t really have a reason to dip into that again; it’s stupid." He continued by saying that, "[I'm promoting Nazi propaganda] by what? By saying I enjoyed his anime review? Yes, he does have Nazi references in [his videos] and I see them now, unless you play close attention…these references will go past you. The irony here is I’m supposed to be the Nazi but I don’t get any of these goddamn references. Anyone with a level-headed brain can tell I don’t know any more than this. But I do understand I have a responsibility, especially with my past. [But the backlash is] outrage for the sake of outrage and getting clicks from negative attention associated with my name." The E;R recommendation has since been edited out of the video.

‘Sub to PewDiePie’ graffiti (March 2019)

A fan scrawled "Sub to PewDiePie" on the Brooklyn War Memorial. The context here is that PewDiePie and Indian record company T-Series were in an ongoing rivalry from 2018-2019, both of whom were trying to win the title of "most subscribers on YouTube". "Sub 2 PewDiePie" became kind of a meme around this time, with many YouTubers encouraging their viewers to subscribe to him. There were billboards and radio advertisements encouraging people to subscribe, marches that were held in support of subscribing to PewDiePie, "Sub 2 PewDiePie" plane banners, etc.

In response, PewDiePie said that, "I don’t think I’ve done anything to condone this sort of behaviour. Obviously it’s disgusting, obviously I don’t condone it whatsoever. I don’t know why anyone got it in their mind to do this, it’s stupid." He also allegedly donated an unspecified amount of money to the park.

Christchurch shooting (March 2019)

In the moments leading up to the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, the perpetrator said, "Remember lads, subscribe to PewDiePie", as he live-streamed the shootings.

In response, PewDiePie said that, "To have my name associated with something so unspeakably vile has affected me in more ways than I’ve let shown. I just didn’t want to address it right away, and I didn’t want to give the terrorist more attention. I didn’t want to make it about me, because I don’t think it has anything to do with me. To put it plainly, I didn’t want hate to win. But it’s clear to me now the “Subscribe to PewDiePie” movement should have ended then.”

ADL donation (September 2019)

PewDiePie donated $50,000 to the Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish organisation which aims to fight against anti-Semitism. In response, some of his fans barraged the video’s comment section with anti-Semitic slurs and conspiracy theories and accused the Anti-Defamation League of blackmailing him into making a donation. He later rescinded the donation and called it a mistake, saying that, "to be fair, I saw it as an opportunity to put an end to the alt-right claims that have been thrown against me. It wasn’t to try and clear my name or save grace – if it was, I would have done it years ago. But after the Christchurch tragedy, I felt a responsibility to do something about it because it’s no longer just about me, it affected other people in a way, and I’m not okay with that. It really doesn’t feel genuine for me to proceed with the donation at this point and instead I want to take my time…doing it with the right charity."

So. Does all of this make PewDiePie a Nazi? I'm not trying to be a PewDiePie defender, and I don't personally care for him or his videos at all, but honestly... I don't think it does. I believe him when he describes himself as "more apolitical than anything". I really do think that he doesn't actually know or care about politics and isn't interested in learning. His videos are in the shock-value style that was popular among edgelord teenage boys on 4chan and in gaming communities in the early 2010s. The shock value in his videos garnered controversy, which garnered views and shares, which garnered more subscribers and a wider reach- it's not an accident that PewDiePie is the most subscribed person on YouTube. The shock value feeds the algorithm, and he knew that. He acknowledges this himself in a 2019 New York Times interview he did: "Looking back, it was a bubble waiting to burst — this bubble of, how far can we push this? I think YouTube at that time was at a place where no one really knew where the limit was.” From what I can tell, he's mostly just a guy that got famous by saying offensive stuff, and then struggled to adapt and accept responsibility as that kind of humor became less and less acceptable and he became more and more influential. Certainly, he seems to resent the idea that he should have to take responsibility or change the way he interacts with his audience. But I don't think that makes him a Nazi. I think that makes him a guy who hasn't been told no in the past twelve years that he's been famous and kind of believes he can do no wrong.

All that said, that doesn't mean that his brand of humor is unproblematic, and it doesn't mean that he's unproblematic. Quite the opposite. Modern right-wing extremism depends on that kind of irony to recruit young men to their cause and to spread their ideas. Stupid memes are a way to smuggle controversial beliefs into the mainstream without having those beliefs examined or challenged. In a very real way, 4chan shitposting is how we ended up with Donald Trump as president, and it's what created QAnon. Things that are jokes quickly become non-jokes, depending on your point of view and how you were introduced to the topic.

And this is true of PewDiePie, too. As a writer on the video-game website Polygon put it, “Intent only gets you so far when it comes to toying with hate speech in front of an audience of tens of millions, many of whom are younger children.” A reported 11 percent of PewDiePie's viewers- about 12 million people- are younger than 17, and the actual number of his subscribers who are minors is probably much larger than that. In a very real way, he's shaping how young people view hate speech and what they view as acceptable, and he's exposing them to the first steps in the right wing radicalization pipeline. I don't think he's intentionally including right wing dogwhistles in his videos, but I do think the outcome is kind of the same- more people are exposed to the far right than would have been otherwise. In some sense, he's being a useful idiot in service of white supremacists and far-right groups- in the words of reporter Nathan Grayson, "[W]hether he’s just memeing or he ascribes to these values, it doesn’t matter. [W]hat matters is that he normalizes these ideas as jokes on THE platform where kids increasingly get their first exposure to the world at large.”

To answer your original question, I think there are a couple different factors at play when it comes to why people still watch his videos. The first is that despite having 111 million subscribers on YouTube, his videos only average 3.5 million views each- so only about 3% of his subscribers actually watch any given video he uploads (for context, a subscriber-to-view ratio of 10% is generally considered good). The "sub 2 PewDiePie" campaign upped his subscriber count exponentially, but it doesn't actually translate to views. A whole lot of people did actually stop watching his content, or were never watching to begin with. Alongside that, the videos he does upload are (generally) fairly inoffensive, so some of his subscribers may not be aware that there's controversy in his past at all. Others who are aware of the controversies may think that they were "just jokes" or "not a big deal"- remember, his original fanbase was made up of edgelords. They don't care because they don't think it's that serious. If he "gives you the ick", he was never creating content for you to begin with.

The other dynamic at play here is that many people subscribed to PewDiePie as teenagers, and have been subscribed to him for over a decade. The parasocial relationship that builds is very real. A lot of people feel like they "grew up with PewDiePie" or that in some sense he's kind of like a friend. For these people, any attacks on PewDiePie feel like an attack on a close friend, and they're inclined to view him as the wronged party instead of the aggressor. A big part of his fan base perceives him as a kind of martyr that's fighting against YouTube's "censorship" policies and who's been victimized by the mainstream media, who just doesn't "get it". Int heir minds, any criticism towards him is proof that he's misunderstood and being attacked, and they feel like they have to protect him.

Finally… PewDiePie does have sizable alt-right and white nationalist following, and always has. They don't care if he's said offensive things because they unironically agree with the things that he's saying.

[chaoticfriendship]

This is not hate but how can you support someone like pewdiepie after all hes done? I feel like it's wrong to put him with Jack because sometimes i feel like jacks his friend only because he feels he needs to because of the shoutout. Don't stan him with Jack or associate him with him please. Pewdiepie is a bad influence and a white supremacist

Ok. Let’s talk. I was going to ignore this but you’re really persistent. This is the fifth ask you have sent me telling me the same thing but in different ways. Sad thing is that I just started this blog, I can’t believe this keeps happening to me in every fandom I go to. Some of you need to understand something about Felix.

Yes, I’m aware he did a lot of questionable things. And no, he’s not a white supremacist. He’s not racist. And he’s not homophobic or whatever Twitter/the media is saying about him these days. I might not know him personally but I’ve been watching Felix since the very beginning and even with this little info about his life I can tell the difference between some things people choose to ignore about him. He’s a very honest person and he always tells everyone the information they need to know about him, whether it is about his personal life or his pewdiepie persona. His real actual friends (Jack, Ken, Mark -also good people, and whether you like it or not, Jack is one of them) held him accountable for the things he did and also made sure to assure everyone that the ‘Pewdiepie’ personality is totally different than his real-self. They confirmed he’s not any of his mistakes. Meaning the ‘Pewdiepie’ personality got too far and the facade/entertainment mask fell off of him when he made those mistakes. This was not only a lesson for him but it showed him places that needed real improvement in his life, something we all need sometimes. We all fall short in understanding the potential harm we can do to others and we easily face the temptation to define ourselves by ignoring those crucial parts. What Felix needed to learn was self-awareness. And he’s now constantly working on it so he can objectively evaluate himself when it comes to those things. Some people face this alone and privately but, him, as an internet sensation had to do it on camera.  

Pay attention to what his actual friends say about him. Jack himself said it:

‘It is strange, all the stuff that gets said about him, it’s kind of weird to see that being said about a friend of yours. To hear his actual thoughts on it…people like to take things every which way and twist things all over the place. I don’t know how he does it, with that many people on you and that much scrutiny on you constantly. I think I would have lost my mind by now.’

I’m also aware he’s a white rich guy and that he’s a step up on the scale from me and other people but I’m sure that if I dig long enough, I’m going to find something about certain actors/actresses/musicians (that most likely you and other people love) as well. Meaning they’re human at the end of the day and they might make mistakes too. Felix is the same case here.

It was dumb to say certain things and do certain things? YES. I held him accountable when he did those things. He didn’t need to say or do the things he did. It was irresponsible, harmful and immature from his part. However, he’s willing to make a change and work on it so this is something I can appreciate. 

He did the fivver video. This is his statement:

‘I make videos for my audience. I think of the content that I create as entertainment, and not a place for any serious political commentary. I know my audience understand that and that is why they come to my channel. Though this was not my intention, I understand that these jokes were ultimately offensive. I think it’s important to say something and I want to make one thing clear: I am in no way supporting any kind of hateful attitudes.’

his response.

He said the ‘n’ word. He sincerely apologized. This is his statement:

‘I hate how I personally fed into that part of gaming. It was something that was said in the heat of the moment. I said the worst word I could possibly think of and it slipped out. I’m not going to make excuses to why I did it because there are not excuses for it. I’m dissappointed in myself because it seems like I learned nothing from controversies. And it’s not like I think I can do or say whatever I want and get away with it. I’m just an idiot but that doesn’t make what I said or how I said it okay. It was not okay. I’m really sorry If I offended, hurt or disappointed anyone with all of this. Being in the position I am, I should know better. I know I can’t keep messing up like this and I owe it to my audience and to myself to do better than this. I really want to improve and better myself, not just for me but for anyone that looks up to me or anyone that is influenced by me and that’s how I wanna move forward. Away from this.’

source: my response. 

He:

Held himself accountable.

Made no excuses for his behaviour.

Recognized he did something wrong and stupid.

Sincerely apologized for it without making a fake act or fake crying for sympathy.

Never asked for sympathy or support because he's willing to make a real change in behavior. 

Realized some people are influenced by him and worked to be better for them and himself.

Chose to be himself and stand his ground on an important matter to make his audience understand he was taking this as serious as it is. 

Understood he gave ammunition that feeds some people the wrong idea and didn’t try to rationalize it because he knows he should take accountability for it. 

Saw that he had no need for jokes or words like that in his vocabulary in the first place and worked on self-control.

Rightfully feels ashamed for his actions. 

Here you can see Felix takes this seriously. He’s not messing around with what happened. He takes it with the responsibility it should be taken. 

And this is enough for me. I’m sorry if you think Felix needs to do a blood sacrifice to prove himself but that’s just not how it works. 

We all have said or done things we are not proud of. He did many of them and trust me, he was held accountable for them. How? Here’s a list of the consequences:

He was part of the original content network YouTube Red, and was affiliated with Disney’s MakerStudios brand where he had his own network. Disney cut all ties with him.

They cancelled his YouTube Red show, where a lot of people put big effort (not only the participants but the crew members). You can see that this was important for him. It was not just some random ass show.

Was held accountable for his actions and it was made known every mistake he did. Every single one.  

Received the proper criticism from the media, his fans and his own friends.

He also received harsh backlash and hate from the situation.

Lost support from followers, celebrities, friends and companies. 

He’s constantly attacked by people and media outlets on a daily basis. Some people even fabricate false stories about him.

He faced the proper consequences for those actions. Let him move on already.

You also listed a bunch of stuff in one of your asks, things he’s NEVER done. Those are things the media has made you and everyone else believe he did but he didn’t. This is why you should never believe any random media headline, you need to actually do your own research to see if that’s true or not. Here are the things you said he did (none of these are true): 

No, he hasn’t hired people to say the ‘n’ word. This is not true at all.

No, he doesn’t promote Adolf Hitler speeches and anti-semitic cartoons. Disney did once tho.

No, he’s not homophobic. At all. He was actually evicted from his own flat because his previous landlord is an actual homophobic person and called him and his crew the ‘f’ word. He decided to move far away from the guy. 

No, he didn’t perform the Nazi heil. Never. 

No, he didn’t pay the ‘Jesus’ guy to hold a sign that says ‘Hitler did nothing wrong’ this is a lie. Someone else did it and the media said it was him to cause more controversy. He paid him to say ‘Subscribe to Jacksepticeye’. 

No, he’s not racist. For this, his content would’ve to be filled with racial jokes and actual intentional attacks daily. His content is not like that, trust me, the most he does is play with some tambourine all the time. He’s said the ‘n’ word (something he admitted was terrible, apologized for it and took responsibility for his words), yes but someone that feels as bad and ashamed as he does, does not equal to what an actual racist is and how they act. 

No, he didn’t dress up in a Klansman robe. He never did that. This is also false information about him. 

No, he doesn’t bully his friends or enables bullying. I don’t know where the media got that one but I can assure you they’ve got no friends if they think his interactions with his own friends are ‘bullying’. 

No, he doesn’t joke about crises happening around the world. AT ALL. He constantly raises money for them (and gives his own money as well) to different causes such as the Wildfires Emergency Appeal, Team Trees (to plant 20 million trees), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (for kids with diseases such as cancer), Crisis Text Line, National Alliance on Mental Illness (a group that helps those suffering from mental illness), CRY (a GoFundMe campaign to help Indian children living in poverty), World Wildlife Fund (dedicated to the reduction of mankind’s environmental impact), RED (did a whole 7 hour livestream with friends to help people fighting HIV/AIDS in Africa), Charity: Water (a non-profit that provides drinking water to developing nations), Save the Children (for underprivileged kids to give them better education, healthcare, better economic opportunities), he recently raised $106,000 for the BLM movement donating the contributions to the family of George Floyd and other victims of police violence, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Hope for Holt, Malaria No More, Oceana, SpecialEffect, War Child, etc. Does this sound like someone who makes fun of real problems happening around the globe? No. And no, he hasn’t made fun of those causes either. 

No, he doesn’t make fun of mental illnesses. He talks about it with the proper respect and delicacy it deserves. He constantly adresses mental health, shares resources for viewers who may be struggling and talks about the importance of being aware and getting legitimate help. Where are you taking these facts from?

No, he doesn’t support China’s police brutality. He was BANNED from China for critizing the president and the country’s treatment of Hong Kong’s anti-government protests. How hard is it to watch the real video instead of trusting some Susan from Twitter? 

No, he has NEVER disrespected Japanese culture. Felix loves Japan and respects their culture. He always treats the people and the place with utter respect. 

He’s not a white supremacist or a secret Nazi. Are you insane? He’s said it himself ‘f*** anyone who is racist and anyone who is a white nationalist. That’s not what I’m about. And that’s not what my channel has been about either.’ Maybe if you think about it, the media painted him that way and people decided to go with it because they don’t actually watch his videos. The number of accusations and stories are insane and ridiculous. Have you ever watched one of his videos? Ever? Because if you would’ve, you would know none of these things are true. 

No, he doesn’t encourage kids/teens to see and follow Nazi ethics. He recommended a channel that does anime reviews (he didn’t know the channel had pro white-supremacy videos). You’re accusing him of that for not checking the thousand-something videos said channel has because he liked one anime review? This is reaching to a whole new degree. You could’ve randomly watched the same anime review vid, does that make you a Nazi as well? And NO, he didn’t wear an Iron Cross, he was wearing a Georgian Bolnisi cross. The shirt is by the Georgian designer Demna Gvasalia. Use Google please. 

I don’t think you’re a real Jacksepticeye fan if you think he’s sticking up for him only because of a shout-out that happened years ago. Extend your perspective in this. He knows him in real-life. He’s his best friend. He can tell he’s not a bad person. This is not a hard thing to figure out. 

Also, you forgot to put the anon option in one of your asks, so I know who you are. Weren’t you joking about WW3, using the ‘r’ word to fight with your followers and making fun of the BLM movement a few months ago on your twitter account? It might not look like it’s possible but we’ve also made and are capable of making some of the same mistakes too. The difference is that some of you hide behind the ‘it’s just humor to cope with life’ gen z card. Joking about a serious important movement is harmful as well, hope you can learn that. 

I can’t tell you how to emotionally react to his content, however I can advise that if it bothers you that much you should remove yourself from the environment that revolves around him (if you even watch his videos which I highly doubt) if you’re not willing to give him a chance. You also need to remember that forgiveness is private and personal, just because you don't see his content and can't see that change doesn't mean it's not happening. There’s power in understanding.

[nuderefsarebest]

I checked all of this for accuracy and it is all true. For those who don't get the idea of '88' as a hate symbol, it is commonly used by Neo-Nazis and other white supremacists as 'H' is the eighth letter of the alphabet and '88' is (now well-known) code for 'Heil Hitler'. They are being absolutely overt in their bigotry and hate. I mean, these people were never really subtle, but, Jesus...

[evilmark999]

Even though I keep telling Tumblr that this is NOT what I want in my feed, it keeps trying and trying and trying to show me these Jan 6 attack posts...

Mmmkay, then!

Victoria Charity White, who can barely be seen in the posted potato quality video suffering the consequences of her many misdeeds from the moments just before - which are NOT shown - was tracked down and arrested in March 2021...

In November 2023, she entered a plea of guilty to the charges against her - instead of opting to go through the full trial process - and served jail time, and is under house arrest, now, and will then be on probation for another two years...

Here's the official press release:

Before seeing this post, I knew nothing about this Victoria. A short few minutes via an Internet search produced the truth - and more ugliness from the gathered asses, such as this:

For those seeing this from me who don't WANT me to be anteing up with my two common sense cents, then maybe channel that loud holier-than-thou energy into making these outrageous posts more or less private?

Thanks, you're NOT a peach!

6 Jan 2021 - Another video has emerged from 6 January 2021. This one is hard to watch. It's a clip of a female Trump supporter getting beaten by US Capitol Police.

She is hit approximately thirty-five times over the course of 4 minutes and 30 seconds, while appearing to be begging for mercy. She is hit with the baton while facing away. She is hit with the baton while facing forward. She is speared and poked with the baton about the face so as to inflict maximum pain. She collapses more than once and is stood up by the officers only to be maced and beaten again. At some point, White-shirt puts away his baton, not because he is showing mercy because he has a clear avenue to her face. As such, he unloads on the defenseless woman punching her five times in five seconds, directly in the face.

[schalotte]

uhhhhh we visited wolgast today and. honestly it’s frightening how openly nazi-ideological some parts of this country are.... like i always keep my eyes peeled for stupid stickers to remove from lamp-posts etc but the ones i saw today were so much worse than usual..... there was one that literally said “white is colorful enough” and another one that said “good night left side” and then one in support of the local football club that said “heil [name of the club]” which. jesus christ..... the levels of idiocy at work here............

[larsmaischak]

Race, Gender, Class and the Old vs the New Left

With an afterword by Sojourner Truth

1960s

Capital:  Maybe we look bad, now that the Soviets have female tractor drivers and engineers, and Africa is governed by actual Africans, while we have a labor market that privileges white men?

New Left:  The Old Left has not done enough to recognize the specific ways in which women and African-Americans are oppressed.

Old Left:  Who has been leading all those Civil Rights marches, if not the left?  Who has been paying for the field organizers and buses, if not the labor unions?  Who has been pushing for equal pay and equal rights for women, if not socialists like Margaret Sanger?

1970s

Blue Collar Workers: Let’s beat the crap out of some hippies.  USA!  USA!

New Left:  See?  The Old Left is for the war, and against the counter culture, and all that.  They are squares!

Old Left:  You know that the craft unions representing those reactionary white, male workers have a long history of exclusion of women, immigrants, and African-Americans that goes back to the 1880s, right?  That’s different from our industrial organizing tradition that goes back to Eugene Debs, the Wobblies, the CIO…

New Left:  Workers are the enemy!  Let’s focus on women and people of color!

Old Left:  Now wait a minute!  95% of women and people of color rely on wage work for their income!  They are working class!

New Left:  Let’s march through the institutions!  I’ll be a lawyer!  You can get tenure!

1980s

Capital:  Let’s squash Communism and the unions!

New Left:  What unions?  Were there any left?  How quaint!

Old Left:  We have to defend the rights of workers!

New Left:  Workers are (a) fine, and (b) sexist, racist, reactionaries.  Shut up!

1990s

Capital:  Look, the Soviet Union is gone!  Let’s modernize our economy, and return personal responsibility to the individual!

Old Left:  Responsibility for what, exactly?

Capital:  For how they survive a modernized economy without adequate wages, health care, housing, and retirement benefits.

New Left:  Did you know that all those old, secure, well paid jobs were held by - gasp! - white men?  It is about time that they let go of their privilege and give women and people of color a chance.  Did you know that women and people of color like flexible jobs and thrive in them?  The kinds of jobs for which working class men are frankly not suited?  That require intelligence and education?

Old Left:  You mean making wage-work less secure and rewarding, more stressful, and placing the burden of obtaining the required education on the individual workers is good for women and people of color?

New Left:  Aha!  You are still your old racist, sexist, unreformed selves!

2000s

Old Left:  Fight Globalization!  For the rights of indigenous people, women, workers, for environmental protection!

New Left:  Hooray!  You know how we can get all those good things?  By opening up our markets for Free Trade!  Modernize!  Knowledge economy!  Global village!

Old Left:  That sounds an awful lot like the stuff corporate consultants are saying …

New Left:  Many corporate consultants are women, people of color, and even gay or lesbian!  We are not surprised that you fossils are still afraid of those groups gaining power at the expense of white men!

Old Left:  White men, like the indigenous women in Chiapas backing the Uprising?

New Left:  Cultural appropriation!

2010s

Old Left: Listen, have you paid attention lately to the free fall of the working class through the tattered social safety net?  There’s a swath of human misery and devastation from opioids, the starving of public institutions like schools and libraries, neoliberal schemes to penny-pinch urban areas that literally poison people with their tap water, …

New Left:  OBAMA!  Oh, the dreamy, well-spoken, intelligent, Obama!  Sigh!

Old Left: … as we were trying to say …

New Left: It is the Millennium of Modernity!  History is at an end!  All contradictions in the world, all conflicts, have been laid to rest!  Hosiannah!

Old Left: ... and these unaddressed problems will not just go away.  We have to pay attention …

New Left:  Will you SHUT UP ALREADY about the flyover states and the human scum that dwells in them!  We’re trying to listen to NPR, here.

2020s

Capital:  Enough with this democracy business.  It allows the wrong people to have their dirty fingers on the levers of power.  Didn’t we have a pretty good system in place for dealing with this stuff?  Steve?

Bannon:  Heil Trump!

Capital:  Sounds good.

Fascism:  Cultural Marxism has too long incited women and other inferiors to aspire to a status far above their place.  It is time to restore America to Greatness by putting these people back in their place.  By force, if needed.

New Left:  See what you’ve done!  All your decades of coddling the working class, those reactionary white men!  Now they’re back in full force, and all because of you and your idiotic refusal to go with the program.  We had it all!  Tenure!  Professional jobs!  CLOUT!  NPR!  MSNBC!  And you ruined it all!

Old Left:  Let’s talk about SOCIALISM …

New Left:  All the rights of LGBTQ+ people, women, people of color, and you want to throw that all out by capitulating to the Fascists?

Old Left: No, actually, we want to fight capital, so that the reactionaries are deprived of their funding and support.  Then we can rally the vast majority of the people, who are working for wages to survive, around their common interest as working, suffering, hoping, creative, loving humans.

Sojourner Truth:

I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. …  That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?

Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp

[thotsonthebible]

Choices

1 Samuel 12.14

If you will fear the LORD and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.

If I understand that verse correctly, God is telling Israel that if they obey Him and do not rebel against Him, then He will see to it that their king will follow Him.

Israel had suffered defeat at the hands of the Philistines.  Even though they had not forgotten how God had delivered them from Egypt, they had become restless and disobedient.  Their judges had become corrupt, performing their religious functions while violating God's law, and the people began to clamor for a king.

Note what God told the prophet Samuel in response to the people's demand.

The LORD said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.'  —1 Samuel 8.7 (NASB) (italics mine)

God told Samuel to warn the people what would happen if they were allowed to have their way, but the people still demanded a king.

Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, 'No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.'  —1 Samuel 8.19-20 (NASB) (italics mine)

Israel no longer wanted to be a 'peculiar people' (see Exodus 19.5 and Deuteronomy 14.2 & 26.18, King James Version) ruled by an invisible God; they wanted to be like everybody else.  They wanted a king, a figurehead, to rule over them.

At the coronation of Saul, Samuel once again reminded the people what they had done.

'When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, "No, but a king shall reign over us," although the LORD your God was your king.'  —1 Samuel 12.12 (NASB) (italics mine)

And then he gave them the above ultimatum from God: if you obey Me, then your king will follow Me.  In other words, the behavior of our government depends largely upon our obedience to God.  Isn't that a sobering thought?

If God gives us the leader we deserve (Judges 9.1-21), one can only wonder what Germany did to deserve Hitler.  The area where I live was settled by Germans and the Amish community here still speak a German dialect, as did one of my grandfathers.  My ancestors emigrated here in the mid-19th century, and I felt quite at home in Germany when I visited.  The food was familiar, the people familiar, the culture familiar—and as I left the Concentration Camp Museum at Dachau, I found myself wondering what my own family might have done had they not come to America.  Would they—would I, had I been alive then—have been among those who pretended not to notice the stench of burning human flesh rising from the crematoria?  Or would we have resisted the spreading evil and followed our righteous Lord?  Some did, and were arrested and sent to concentration camps or executed outright. But most, including those in organized religion, remained silent.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.  Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.  Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.  —Pastor Martin Niemöller, imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau Concentration Camps for opposing Hitler, though he first supported his rise to power

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act.  —Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, executed April 9, 1945, at Flossenbürg Concentration Camp for plotting against Hitler

Why is this pertinent?  We are fast approaching that time when a false messiah will arise to mislead the world. He will be forceful and charismatic, and people will flock to him.  He will offer solutions to the world's problems and the world will enthusiastically embrace him and endorse all his ideas.  And then he will make war on God's people and execute those who refuse to deny Jesus.

You may have seen the black-and-white photo of a Nazi ceremony in which all the crowd are raising their arms in the Nazi salute and shouting, 'Sieg heil!'—except one man, who is sitting silently, with his arms folded across his chest, refusing to comply. Be that man.  One worse than Hitler will soon appear; don't fall prey to the deception.

Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain!  Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming; it is near. —Joel 2.1 (ESV)

[awfulbadtaste]

Sneak Peek at some stuff soon to come

Later on in the story, taken from “The Ritual”:

A bag fell over her face, and in the split second between the sudden darkness, and the sharp blow to the back of the head, a single word formed in Laura’s mind.

Again?

The world winked out, and Laura plunged into the depths of the darkest sea again. Somewhere on the edge of hearing, there were voices, muffled and monotonous, like chanting. Her nostrils flared with the smell of smoke and spice. Her head throbbed, stars bursting behind her eyelids as she groaned.

She tilted her head, eyes fluttering. A warm glow filled her vision, with hundreds of tiny flickering lights scattered across her peripheral, with tall, solemn shapes dressed in black and made of shadow. She groaned again, mouth dry, and lifted her chin.

Her vision swirled, and focused.

Several things registered at once.

First, candles had been lit and placed around a large, cavernous space, and the room was filled with dozens of people, dressed in black cloaks, with hoods pulled over their faces so that only their mouths and nose could be seen. Second, there was a single person standing before her, dressed in red, the hood pulled right across their face, an upside down cross tied about their neck and glittering in the candlelight. Third, they were in the church, all the pews pushed to the sides haphazardly, and the crosses and jesus figures turned around or on the floor.

“Oh, this is Bill’s church,” Laura slurred, looking around, her head full of cotton. “He’s going to be so upset!”

“The Reverend won’t be upset for long if the ritual is successful,” said the figure in red, their voice thick with malice.

Laura squinted at them in the gloom. “‘Reverend’ is a title, you don’t call people ‘the Reverend’, it’s a title like ‘honorable’ for a judge.”

“I--I don’t care,” said the figure before her.

“Do I know you?” Laura asked, suddenly. She tried to move, and something stopped her. She turned, bleary eyed to look at her arms, splayed out across the familiar wooden cross at the back of the altar in the church. She tugged at the binds around her wrists, and then looked at the figure in red again.

“Aren’t you scared?” Asked the figure in red. They were taller than her, and broader too, the mouth cruel and stony beneath the mask and bordered with prickly grey stubble.

“I should be,” Laura admitted, her head pounding. The people in black continued chanting, their voices echoing in the church. The altar that usually stood in front of the cross had been moved, the flowers ripped apart and thrown aside, replaced by a black velvet cloth, a bowl, and a cruel looking knife that gleamed in the candlelight. “Oh, you’re doing one of these,” Laura said, matter of factly.

“One of these?” Asked the figure.

“One of these like, dumb, cult... things. Heil Satan and all,” Laura explained.

“This isn’t ‘dumb’, it’s the real deal,” spat the red figure. “Now, listen well, girl, you will play a pivotal role in bringing about the unspeakable power of hell. The devil cries out for your blood.”

“Wait, I do know you!” Laura started. She tilted her head, trying to see under the hood of the figure in front of her, and they recoiled back. She blinked, and continued. “You’re the gross old cult dude who rang me like two weeks ago, oh my god. You don’t recognise me? Holy shit, you don’t know who I am!”

“Where is the gag?” The figure spat, spinning on the spot. Someone in black robes rushed forward, holding out a twisted piece of cloth. The figure in red snatched it from their hands, and ducked around behind Laura.

“You guys have no idea how pissed he’s going to b--!” The gag cut into the corners of her mouth, and the figure pulled it tight around her head, before tying it off roughly, and shuffling back to the front. The chanting continued, growing louder, changing pace.

The figure in red approached the altar, picking up the black bowl, and the knife, the blade flashing. “Prince of sin, we beseech thee, King of Seven Hells, come forward, and heed our call.”

A hooded figure stepped forward, holding a book out in front of them, a candle in their free hand, and began to read, their voice descending into a strange animalistic chanting. Another hooded figure stepped forward, and began drawing things with a piece of chalk, scratching out designs and letters onto the wooden floorboards.

Laura struggled, pulling against her binds, biting down on the gag. In the gloom, she could see the black figures close in, creating a circle around the red one and the altar. Fear caught in her throat, pounding in her ears. If he saw her like this, she would never live it down--

The candles waved, and a coldness trickled into the room, seeping in from the walls and ceiling, unnatural and deadly still. The hooded figure continued speaking, reciting what was in the book in front of them, while the others stood around the circle, waiting.

The coldness crawled across Laura’s skin, travelling down her face in beads of sweat. A static filled the room, charging the air and making it feel alive with energy. The candles blew out, and the room became dark.

Here we go, she thought, rolling her eyes back into her head, and closing them.

Out of the centre of the circle, a darkness, deeper than black, rose up, like a wispy trail of smoke.

“Great lord, Asmodeus, King of demons, King of Nine Hells, we seek your aid,” The hooded figures chanted in unison, their voices echoing off the walls and glass windows.

The smoke swirled, becoming solid, forming a tall, hulking figure, so black that it seemed to suck in the very light around it. Four great wings unfurled from its body, black as ebony, two pairs of arms ending in clawed talons stretched from the being’s side in a lazy movement. Laura could make out large, curling horns crowning the beast’s head, and see the wetness of its teeth as it opened its mouth in a hideous smile.

The chanting went silent, voices dying in throats. The figure in red seemed to shake, staring up at the beast. A single white dot appeared in the middle of the creature’s forehead, growing to a thin little glowing line. The line popped open into a crude looking eye. It blinked, and swivelled around the room. The beast stayed motionless, standing stock still, the eye slithering down over its body, and appearing at the back of its head, across its neck, on its cheek, before snapping back to its forehead.

The beast opened its toothy maw, and spoke, the voice a steely, inhuman whisper. “This is Bill’s church.” Laura banged her head against the cross, looking up at the ceiling and letting out a deep sigh through her nose. The fear melted away, and was replaced by frustration. “I have always liked Bill,”  the creature stated, black smoke swirling about its body still.

Laura kicked the cross hard, and the bang resonated in the church hall. The beast’s eye trained on her, and a palpable silence fell across the church, the collective holding of breath. More eyes grew out of the dark of the creature’s body, appearing across its head, around its horns, all pupils fixed on Laura’s face.

“What a pleasant surprise!” The beast exclaimed, the wings fluttering. It stepped over the circle, and the candles around the room relit. In the gold gloom, the creature’s blackness seemed deeper, more intimidating, as if staring into the heart of a black hole itself. It approached Laura, standing inches from her face, grinning at her with giant fangs, and a dozen, glowing eyes. “My love! My little love! What brings you here?” Laura blinked, and gave him a pointed stare. Marius’ grin faltered, and the eyes glanced from side to side at her bound wrists, and then at the gag about her mouth. “Ah,” he said.

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

June 30, 2020

JESUS WAS A CAPRICORN

Listen to this: “Jesus was a person of color murdered by state sanctioned violence.” That was on a sign outside the Clackamus United Church of Christ in Milwaukie, Ore. How dare they, when everybody knows Jesus was blonde with blue eyes. We've seen the movies. And lookit, Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority, opened the whites-only Lynchburg Christian Academy. Jesus had to be white or else he couldn't get in. But seriously folks, we all know the Christian Right has for some time now been spewing hate at anyone who doesn't buy into their gun-toting, muslim-hating values. Lately, they've been bummed out because The Supremes ruled transgender and gay folks have rights, too. But Jesus of Nazareth wasn't like that — he was into Peace, Love and Rock 'n Roll. What would Jesus say about all those evangelical Christians worshiping Trump, the hater in chief. Even Wilson and the band think Jesus would be put off (not their exact language) by Trump. What would you call someone who preached hate on behalf of Christ the Redeemer. We won't say it out loud. And the truth is, Jesus was Palestinian.

THE ROAD TO PERDITION

The forced wearing of seatbelts has led us to this dangerous time in America when our freedoms are being eroded like a St. George riverbank in a pissing match. That's right, we're on the road to totalitarianism, not to mention perdition. Now THEY want us to wear face masks in direct violation of the charter of White Knights of Freedom. (And don't say nothin' about the KKK). Greg Hughes and Phil Lyman know this — great patriots they are. It all started back-when with fluoride and marijuana — two hideous chemicals snuck into our water supply and brownies by Marxist-Leninists in places like San Francisco and the Avenues. Then green-bellied scoundrels set in motion a scheme to rob white men of their liberty. It's as plain as day — what do you think environmentalism is? They say we can't idle our pick-ups at 7-11. Next, the'll pass laws against eating hot dogs, drinking Cherry Cokes and smoking Camels. This is how liberty is lost. And Heil Herbert is no exaggeration. The jack-booted thugs are coming for us, people. Lock and load. Give us liberty or bury us with our chaps on and our six-guns by our sides.

BILL BARR AND THE WORK OF THE LORD

And speaking of old time religion, Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan says Attorney General Bill “Froggy” Barr isn't doing Donald Trump's bidding, he's doing the Lord's work. But somehow, Barr's alma mater, George Washington University Law School, and hundreds of former federal prosecutors are calling on Froggy to resign. But how could good ol' Jim “Up Yours” Jordan be wrong? Sure, Barr dropped the criminal case against Michael Flynn, who was Trump's national security advisor for 10 minutes. But all Flynn did was make secret deals with the Russians before the election and lie about it to the FBI. And that tiny thing with Trump's old pal and rat f- -ker Roger Stone wasn't all that bad. He was only convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction. All Froggy did was tell prosecutors they'd better dial back the sentencing recommendation, or else. And this latest thing with the Friday night “retirement” of Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, was just a misunderstanding. Just because Berman was investigating Trump's fixer Rudy Juliani and other dark corners of Trumpworld doesn't mean Froggy was doing anything nefarious. And anyway, come on — we know the law doesn't really apply to Donald Trump or his friends. Right Froggy?

Post scrip — Well groupers and groupettes, we're sailing into the Fourth of July and the celebration of the greatest country ever. We know this is true because we learned it in school and on Fox News. That doesn't mean we don't have problems: Middle-class workers have been getting screwed for the last 40 years (Reaganomics), but we can fix that. A lot of people can't afford health care, but we can fix that. Higher education has become out of reach for many people, but we can fix that. The homeless population keeps growing, but we can fix that. Big money has corrupted our political system, but we can fix that. And police keep shooting black people, but we can fix that. These problems are more than unsettling. But here's a reality check — until the post World War II period, there never was a strong, vibrant middle class in this country; the wealth was mostly at the top. Well, welcome back to the good ol' USA. We shouldn't forget that any privileges we enjoy today weren't given as gifts by the powers that be, but seized only through the blood, sweat and tears of the organized labor movement. That, of course, does not include women's rights or civil rights. Any gains in those areas haven't come easy and clearly those fights aren't over. If you want something in this country, you've got to fight for it and fight to keep it or they'll take it right back. Happy Independence Day.

Alright Wilson, tell the guys to put down the bong and give us some religion:

Jesus was a Capricorn He ate organic food He believed in love and peace And never wore no shoes...

Some folks hate the Whites Who hate the Blacks who hate the Klan Most of us hate anything that We don't understand

(Jesus Was A Capricorn — Kris Kristofferson)

PPS — During this difficult time for newspapers please make a donation to our very important local alternative news source Salt Lake City Weekly at PressBackers.com, a nonprofit dedicated to help fund local journalism. Thank you.

[commandertrump]

Jesus Christ, why are you people so upset about the Russian bounty on American troops thing?  They knew what they signed up for: To get Trump Tower in Moscow.  Let’s move on.  Here, heil.  Have a white pride retweet.  Jesus...

[omgktlouchheim]

Diary of Katie Louchheim

Below are thoughts and feelings of mine that have been brought forth by current events. My expressions below are solely my own, I do not claim these experiences to be anyone else’s or claim to speak for everyone with similar backgrounds or feelings.

Pretty much since the election I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts together. I feel like I’m being torn in a million directions. I wake up every day praying that this is an episode of The Twilight Zone, or a really fucked up dream I’m having and not reality. But I know it’s real. I’ve always known it was real. Growing up Jewish in Arizona was a constant reminder of my otherness while being within the Jewish community was a constant reminder of how much we’re hated solely based on that otherness. The weird thing about never knowing what it’s like to go to your place of worship or day school without security and metal detectors, or that when school gets cut because there was a bomb threat at the JCC or a swastika tagged on one of the synagogues in town, is that these things are not normal. And yet, by the time I was a young child they were completely normalized.

Maybe it didn’t seem so bad because I’ve had a complicated relationship with my Jewish identity so siding with people who were suspect felt easier. Or because that insecurity balanced out with my white privilege.  When people didn’t know my heritage, I definitely benefitted, and still mostly benefit, from that. That’s the lie of assimilation, though. There’s something off-white about living in America while having a Jewish background. (Obviously, for Jews of color it’s a whole other ballgame). Once that part of my identity was known I became “nice for a Jew” and “pretty for a Jew” but I most certainly was not nice or pretty enough to make me human enough to open up the minds of those bestowing compliments to me with their backhand. It would be me; alone, trying to toe the line between making a good and diplomatic impression while also denying a part of myself and any emotional reactions to people and instead, making sure to accommodate their feelings. I didn’t realize how small I was making myself in these situations. And how much responsibility I was shouldering that wasn’t my business to shoulder at all.

One time in high school, a bunch of us choir buddies were asked to sing at one of our friend’s churches. We went, sang a song about Jesus, nailed it (sry, too soon?) and then were forced to listen to this preacher sermonize about how non-Christian people are going to hell. At which point I turned and looked at my friend (an Iranian Zoroastrian) and we both just rolled our eyes because we were so used to this treatment by people toward us. Fucking jaded as fuck from this shit by 17 years old. I think the girl who asked us to go apologized after. I really don’t remember. At this point, and honestly since the dawn of time, apologies are not enough.

Being nice is not enough. There are no “both sides” to this equation. It’s not ok to tell people being brutalized that they need to identify or compromise with their abusers. It is not my job to hold your people accountable. Or hold your hand through your discomfort. White Christian folk, it’s yours. If I had been at that service today, I would have just gotten up and walked out. I don’t have the tolerance my younger self had for bullshit and no one’s fuckery is entitled to my time and space.  It is not my job to constantly try to prove my worth to people who already believe I’m worthless and taking up space that belong to them. All I know, without a doubt, is that my life is more important than White Christian Feelings™. The lives of my friends and family and all the various communities we are members of: POC communities, LGBTQ+, immigrant, Indigenous, Muslim, etc. are more important than White Christian Feelings™. If YOU have feelings it is YOUR job to go to a therapist and work on them and not culturally appropriate the use of tiki torches by using them to throw a tantrum while waving Confederate and Nazi flags, ramming your cars through crowds of people, and beating the shit out of peaceful protestors.

I try to be a good person. I know that majorities of people in this country are also trying to be good people. But, I’m going to level with you white Christian folks. I don’t trust you. I also have a lot of resentment toward you.  If you’re hurt by me saying that, I don’t care. It’s taken me a very long time to admit this. It’s taken an incredible amount of work to unpack and uncondition myself to the idea that I’m a bad person for feeling this way and for not seeing the “many sides.” But, you don’t deserve my trust. You’re not entitled to anything from anybody. Once again, YOUR problem. Tough titties, bro.

When I started seeing images of the gathering of angry white men with torches on Friday night, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to be able to participate in the onslaught of coverage of what was happening in Charlottesville, VA. I was right. The moment I opened Facebook and saw image after image and article after article of the Pasty Wasps Boys parade screaming anti-Semitic slurs, racist drivel, and throwing their arms up in Sieg Heil to Fuhrer Trump I found my breath catch in my throat. Those images turned into the countless hours of footage of the Nazis and their methodical tactics to exterminate our families shown to us every year to make sure we never forgot. The shots of piles of dead bodies found and photographed by the liberators morphed in my head from unknown members of the tribe to my parents and my siblings. Lifeless forms hanging from trees became my friends who dare to be themselves; worship who they wish to worship, love who they love, celebrating being black as fuck (Talia, I am living for you and your InstaStories right now and forever and always). It took me almost a full twenty-four hours and a hiatus from social media to get the panic attacks to stop.

Never again. Our communities make a point to pass down the atrocities we faced so we can make sure these things never happen again to anyone. Why don’t you learn what has happened to us? How is it that our heritage, which is intertwined with yours, weighs so heavily on only our hearts?

 Do you not have hearts?

 What exactly is wrong with you.

 Here’s a collection of other things that have been swirling around in my brainhole:

- Have we past the point of no return for democracy in this country? I’m afraid of staying in this country until it’s too late. I’m afraid of leaving this country that I love and have so much hope for and not knowing if I’ll have more confidence in my survival instincts at the end of it or live with feeling like a coward for the rest of my life. Then again, some of my family made it here in time. Others were murdered and dumped in a grave they were forced to dig themselves.

-I was in Israel with my family in June and I remember I had a moment while sitting on the roof of the hotel we were staying at in Jerusalem with my dad. I remember feeling very quiet and comfortable. I thought of a conversation I had had with my aunt a few weeks prior when she had said that when she went to Israel for the first time 30 some years ago it amazed her that she was in a place where everyone was Jewish. Then, it clicked. I realized that despite the fact that Jerusalem and much of Israel is religiously diverse and that there is still a hugely unsettling political environment present there, that I was in a place where Judaism was accepted. It was a norm. I was in a place where I didn’t have to explain myself to anyone no matter what my actual beliefs, practices or lack thereof are. That’s when I thought, “Wow. This is what it must feel like to be a White Christian back home.”

- I love this country. Maybe, more accurately, I love the concept of this country. I’m a 6th generation American. Which means that my lineage has been here almost as long as this country has been the United States of America. Which also means my lineage has been oppressed while actively engaging in and benefitting from the oppression of others. Immigrants were able to come and build a life for themselves as a result of the genocide of hundreds of millions of First Nations people. My five-times great grandfather fought in the Civil War against the Union. He was not allowed to fight with his fellow southerners and instead was in a separate infantry specifically for Jews. Everything about this sucks. I can only guess that this relative was doing what he felt was right, as way to assimilate, get closer to the American Dream, I’ll never know. Here’s what I do know: The Confederacy lost, as they should have. State’s rights my ass. And failure is a good thing. Failure means things have the potential to be better. It gives us a chance to sit back, deal with our filth, and clean it out. Something this country still hasn’t done.

#BlackLivesMatter

#StopDAPL

#NoBanNoWall

#LoveisLoveisLove

#TransisBeautiful

#WomensRightsAreHumanRights

#ImmigrantsWeGetThe Job Done

#DisabledandCute

#Resist

[prettyboynana]

White Jesus - Black Slaves

White Jesus - Black Slaves God created man in his own image. Simple Look on the pictures and walls. Tell me who does God resemble? How does feel to be controlled by the writings of a man while you kneel in God's temple? Be humble and submissive in the face of God. In Your mind, what face is displayed when you compromise and submit? what do you see as the face of God? Just a few observations and knowledge I don't mind teaching. So don't get me wrong. I don't have any quotations for you. For I am not preaching. It is true. I need to cleanse my soul just like you. Our Sins need to washed off our skins. But it doesn't mean you need to rinse your skin to look their God. So stop bleaching! Sometimes i feel the black sheep among these black sheeps. Some of us are victims to this psychological warfare. No background check: we've accepted their tainted scriptures on their white sheets. It doesn't matter what color Jesus is portrayed in right? So why not show a person from the region he said to be born at? I know what you are thinking: 'He has a point. He might be right.' But ey, in this scheme indoctrination: i guess, right ain't right if God ain't white. "Real niggas" with a white Jesus poster, can I get a Amen? Don't be mad at me. I mean ey man: if this image is ok for you, I guess it's ok man. Blond hair blue eyes like an Aryan. One day when they tell your hallelujahs and Amens are not enough to make it to heaven, will you be shouting Sieg heil to the Aryan? I hope you got me there because I wasn't referring to old Nazi Germans. Just a few observations and knowledge I don't mind teaching. So don't get me wrong: This is not a church service. This is surely not a sermon. Don't get me wrong. I'm not here to tell you to lose your belief or faith. But even if you dislike me, somebody had to set you straight. Believe but don't be blind. See and don't deny. Accept the truth for the truth is yours and the truth is mine. The truth will hurt but when it heals, you feel divine! - Nana D'Artist -

[oyvavoy]

It sucks how antisemitism is still v alive n well and ppl just.. ignore it? like literally we're going over ww2 in my ap euro history class and like.. this one bitch ass white boi (literally his name is hans mcgregor bean.. like.. he was set up 4 disaster w that name) decides to raise his hand and be like "uhh i watched a documentary last night and i'm convinced that the holocaust never even happened". Im not even jewish and im so disgusted goddd WHy r ppl like this wtf ? im so ANGER !! >:(

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA IM GONNA KICK THAT BEAN BOYS ASS !!!! i absolutely agree with you!!! a lot of people dont think antisemitism is relevant anymore but lol!!! it very much is!!! if i had a dollar for every time someone commented about my religion, gave me a nazi salute and said “heil hitler” to me, referred to me as “the jew”, disrespected the jewish culture and traditions, or some other bullshit (i have a very long list) i would have enough money to hire a hitman for every white supremacist fucker out there!!! it genuinely terrifies me that no one sees it besides mostly jews and i am terrified of people knowing that i am jewish because i dont want to be the target of a hate crime. last year in english class my class was watching a movie about the holocaust and a lot of the people were making fun of the way hebrew sounds and they were mocking the kaddish . i have never felt more angry and upset at a group of people in my life. sometimes i wonder what it would be like to not be a jew because i get tired of the hated i see every damn day tbh. i wish more people would understand how difficult it is. there isnt a synagogue for at least 20 miles where i live. my sisters and i are 90% of the jewish population here. my mom grew up in los angeles where a lot more people are jewish so she really doesnt understand how it is here. she tells us to be proud that we are jews and we desperately wish we could be Jewish And Proud but in doing that we are putting a huge target on our backs. when you hear the phrase “hitler did nothing wrong” at least 17 times a day you would be kinda reluctant to let everyone know youre a jew. ugh its a nightmare when people do find out because you get so many questions like youre some kind of goddamn animal. and i dont wanna answer any of those fucking questions anymore. they arent appropriate questions at all!! you wouldnt go up to some random person and ask them if they believe in jesus and if they tell you no then tell them theyre going to hell thats a load of bullshit. a few months ago my sister was threatened to be doused in gasoline and set on fire because of her beliefs and i sat in my room and cried because i was genuinely scared of dying. its rough

[nyanlinnaung-blog]

Disney Severs Ties With YouTube Star PewDiePie After Anti-Semitic Posts

Move came after the Journal asked about videos in which he included anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery  Disney Cuts Ties to YouTube Superstar PewDiePie Felix Kjellberg, who has 53 million subscribers to his “PewDiePie” YouTube channel, reacts as ​​​​two men hold up a sign saying “Death to All Jews,” in a screenshot of a video ​he ​posted online. Mr. Kjellberg paid them to hold up the sign. The video was published Jan. 11 and pulled from YouTube this past weekend. The Indian men in the video apologized publicly in a video saying “we don’t really know what the message means.” Now Disney says it is cutting ties to the Swedish 27-year-old after WSJ inquired about videos he posted in which he includes anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery. Warning: Graphic language and content. By  Rolfe Winkler,   Jack Nicas and   Ben Fritz Updated Feb. 14, 2017 12:28 a.m. ET 431 COMMENTS Millions of people have watched a Jan. 11 video by YouTube’s biggest star that included two men laughing as they held a banner that read, “Death to all Jews.” The man behind the video is Felix Kjellberg, a 27-year-old Swede known as “PewDiePie,” who has amassed 53 million subscribers. His success has brought him multimillion-dollar deals from YouTube and Walt Disney Co. , which owns a firm that runs Mr. Kjellberg’s business. Since August, PewDiePie has posted nine videos that include anti-Semitic jokes or Nazi imagery, according to a review of his channel by The Wall Street Journal. On Monday after the Journal contacted Disney about the videos, the entertainment giant said it was severing ties with Mr. Kjellberg, who as PewDiePie rose to prominence via clips of himself playing videogames or performing skits and making crude jokes. Under the terms of their arrangement, Mr. Kjellberg had editorial independence. “Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate,” said a spokeswoman for Maker Studios, the Disney division that was business partners with PewDiePie. PewDiePie’s account also took down three videos with a total of about 23 million views—the Jan. 11 video, and ones from Jan. 17 and Jan. 22—after the Journal’s inquiries. In the Jan. 22 video, Mr. Kjellberg showed a man dressed as Jesus Christ saying, “Hitler did absolutely nothing wrong.” Mr. Kjellberg said in a video a few days later that the Jan. 11 clip was a joke that went too far. Alphabet Inc.’s GOOGL -0.09% Google, which owns YouTube, pulled ads that run on its videos from the Jan. 11 video within days of its posting, before it was taken down this past weekend. YouTube hasn’t pulled any of the nine videos in question, though PewDiePie’s account took down three of them. Google hasn’t removed ads from any of Mr. Kjellberg’s other videos. Mr. Kjellberg didn’t respond to requests for comment for this article. On Sunday, he wrote on Tumblr that he wanted to “clear some things up,” specifically that he doesn’t support “any kind of hateful attitudes.” Mr. Kjellberg wrote that he creates content for entertainment, not as political commentary, and understands “these jokes were ultimately offensive.” The videos illustrate the risk for companies such as YouTube and Disney that, eager to reach young audiences, make deals with talent who may push boundaries on what is acceptable within the company’s standards or basic social norms. By distributing the content to a wide audience, companies are vulnerable to criticism when a user’s words are deemed offensive. In Mr. Kjellberg’s case, a major neo-Nazi website has embraced his statements. Social media companies also are wrestling with how to address darker forms of speech, whether it is jihadist propaganda or rhetoric from an emerging white-nationalist movement. The dilemma is especially troublesome when it involves prominent figures like Mr. Kjellberg.Twitter Inc., for instance, has stepped up efforts to suspend accounts violating its hate speech and harassment rules. It recently banned Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos for violating its abusive content policy, for example. YouTube said it prohibits videos that violate its rules, which include a ban on content that “promotes or condones violence against individuals or groups based on race or ethnic origin [or] religion.” In reviewing videos, the company said it considers intent as well as the context. “If content is intended to be provocative or satirical, it may remain online. If the uploader’s intent is to incite violence or hatred it will be removed.” YouTube declined to comment specifically on PewDiePie’s videos. Mr. Kjellberg’s videos in recent weeks have drawn the praise of neo-Nazi websites like Daily Stormer, which the Southern Poverty Law Center on Thursday dubbed the “top hate site in America.” On Jan. 23, the site changed its motto to “The world’s #1 PewDiePie fansite,” according to the Internet Archive, celebrating Mr. Kjellberg for “making the masses comfortable with our ideas.” Mr. Kjellberg is a top earner on YouTube, making roughly $14.5 million last year, according to estimates from social media data firm NeoReach. That amount includes splitting ad revenue with YouTube, as well as sponsorships and appearance fees. His videos collectively have been watched 14.7 billion times, more than anyone else on YouTube. He has nearly double as many subscriptions as the next top YouTube star and roughly 78% of his viewers are under 20 years old, NeoReach said. His star power helped him secure a multimillion-dollar bonus from YouTube around late 2015 to keep his videos on its site exclusively, according to people familiar with the deal. A show starring him now anchors YouTube’s subscription service, YouTube Red. Mr. Kjellberg was since 2012 a part of an online video network run by Maker Studios, which Disney bought in 2014 for $675 million. Last year, after he threatened to leave, Maker formed its first ever joint venture making it and Mr. Kjellberg co-owners of a company that produces videos, mobile apps and merchandise, according to a person with knowledge of the agreement. Now that Disney has ended the joint venture, Mr. Kjellberg’s options are to produce videos independently or find a new partner. Mr. Kjellberg, who in late December was working out of an old Disney office outside London, has said the media takes his jokes out of context. “What I just think—and I believe strongly in—is that it is 2017 now,” he said in the Jan. 22 video that was taken down. “We’re going to have to start separating what is a joke, and what is actually problematic. “Is a joke actually pure racism?” he said. “Is something that would be considered a joke purely homophobic, or anti-Semitic and all these things? Context f—ing matters.” Mr. Kjellberg’s use of Nazi material dates back to at least Aug. 7, when he began a video with a swastika and other Nazi imagery. Wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat from President Donald Trump’s campaign, Mr. Kjellberg used a photo of Hitler as a segue between clips. Mr. Kjellberg says the material is portrayed in jest. He showed a clip from a Hitler speech in a Sept. 24 video criticizing a YouTube policy, posted swastikas drawn by his fans on Oct. 15 and watched a Hitler video in a brown military uniform to conclude a Dec. 8 video. He also played the Nazi Party anthem before bowing to a swastika in a mock resurrection ritual on Jan. 14, and included a very brief Nazi salute with a Hitler voice-over saying “Sieg Heil” and the text “Nazi Confirmed” near the beginning of a Feb. 5 video. In the Jan. 11 video, in which the two men are unfurling the “Death to All Jews” sign, Mr. Kjellberg paid people to do bizarre things via the website Fiverr, which helps freelancers secure part-time work. After he shows himself hiring the men to make the sign, he watches them unfurling the sign while they laugh and dance. Mr. Kjellberg appears to express shock and apologizes, saying “I didn’t think they would actually do it.” He doesn’t explain why he still included the clip in the video, which wasn’t broadcast live. The Indian men, apologized in a video saying “we really don’t know what the message meant when making the video.” Mr. Kjellberg defended himself from criticism in a Jan. 17 video, saying “I think there’s a difference between a joke and actual like... death to all Jews. If I made a video saying”—Mr. Kjellberg then quickly cuts to a close-up of his face illuminated brightly—“Hey guys, PewDiePie here. Death to all Jews, I want you to say after me: Death to all Jews. And, you know, Hitler was right. I really opened my eyes to white power. And I think it is time we did something about this.” The video then zooms back out and he adds: “That is how they’re essentially reporting this, as if that’s what I was saying.” Jonathan Vick, an associate director of the Anti-Defamation League, criticized Mr. Kjellberg’s apologies. “Just putting it out there brings it more and more into the mainstream,” he said. Fiverr suspended the accounts of Mr. Kjellberg, the two men in the video and the Jesus actor whom Mr. Kjellberg paid to say, “Hitler did nothing wrong,” according to a person familiar with the matter. Of the actor’s suspension, Mr. Kjellberg said in a later video, “Isn’t it ironic that Jews found another way to f— Jesus over?” Fiverr is based in Tel Aviv. Write to Rolfe Winkler at rolfe.winkler@wsj.com, Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com and Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com Appeared in the Feb. 15, 2017, print edition as 'Disney, Google Cut Ties With YouTube Star.'