Nick Sandman, Covington Catholic High School, The Black Hebrew Israelites, Nathan Phillips and the Politics of Race, Religion, Class and Gender
Man oh man! That is pretty much my response to much of the hoopla that has surrounded the controversy (and goodness knows it has been controversial ) /saga involving the students from Covington Catholic High School. On January 18th, the once previously obscure upper middle class group of high school students from Kentucky were injected into the public spotlight and became the center of much and varied attention. Indeed, both the national and international media went into overdrive debating, dissecting and critiquing various accounts of what actually transpired. The press gave itself whiplash from such frenzied coverage.
As has been the case for quite some time, (even more in the Trump era), ideological loyalists took quick notice. Ideological knives were sharpened. Political and cultural critics took to their partisan corners and the bias commentary began! To be honest, even more than a week after all the drama went down, I don’t think anyone has a firm grasp on the exact details of what actually transpired. I sure as hell do not and I bet it is safe to say that anyone who is being totally honest with themselves doesn’t either. This includes the media.
Nonetheless, what has been established is that a group of teenage boys from a catholic high school in northwestern Kentucky were in Washington D.C. to attend a right to life (anti-abortion) rally. These young man were apparently came into contact with or were confronted by a group of men who are members of the Black Hebrew Israelites. The young man at the center of the drama was Nick Sandman. The elderly Native American tribesman was Nathan Phillips.
While I had briefly heard about the Black Hebrew Israelites, I will admit that my knowledge of the group was minimal. After, the group’s involvement in the January 18th fracas made national headlines, my curiosity percolated and I was off in pursuit of information. The vast majority if material I gathered came from you tube. In this endemic age of intense social media, this should not be all that surprising. I will concede that I was taken aback at what I witnessed.
Suffice it to say, that the Black Hebrew Israelites have a penchant for theatrics. Moreover, they seem to be equal opportunity offenders. They seemed to relish in taking the opportunity to hurl insults at Whites, Blacks, Jews, Hispanics, LGBTQ people and everyone and anyone in sight. Picking fights and provoking arguments seems to be their stock and trade. For a group that seems to be notably small in membership, they are indeed brash, arrogant and boastful. While I am not a psychologist, mental illness may very well be a factor as it relates to some of these guys
Now that I have given my admittedly biased analysis of these seemingly whacked out men, I have something to say about that Covington boys as well. First off, I am not convinced that they were totally innocent. In fact, at least several people who were observers indicated that they that heard and witnessed a number of the young men yell obscenities and mock tribesmen with tomahawk chop salutes. Such behavior is a prime example of callous racism.
Moreover, Nick Sandman’s, the teenager who was at the center of the drama, parents swiftly secured a swanky public relations firm to represent their son and managed to deftly spin the initial narrative of callous, unruly, racially bigoted young men to aggrieved young teenage boys who had been unjustly assassinated in the court of public opinion by an incompetent, ill-informed, misguided rush to judgement, left wing press corp. Conservative media went of the offense, ran with this narrative for several days and in the course of a few days such a persistent and unyielding strategy proved effective.
Indeed, a number of liberal leaning media outlets went on the defensive, retreated front their initial stances and a few even issued mea culpas. It was only after even more information later came to light, that some of these organization began to retreat and reverted to offering more critical assessments of the situation. By this time, there had been so much back and forth, half-truths and misinformation bandied about from various quarters of the political spectrum, that it was difficult to decipher concrete truths from outright falsehoods. The story had been so badly botched by certain segments of the media and manipulated by a savvy PR firm that the truth had been obscured like a voice in the wilderness.
Confusion aside, one thing is for certain. There were the usual opportunists who used this latest racial episode as ammunition to appease their respective political bases and to further their perverse agendas. There is nothing confusing about this fact. Sad.
Elwood Watson, Ph.D. is a professor, author and public speaker. His forthcoming book, Keepin’ It Real: Essays on Race in Contemporary America will be published by the University Of Chicago later this year.
