Neo-Nazis, Justice, and Captain America and Indiana Jones
“So much for the tolerant left.” Sure, this line has flipped from being a facetious indictment of potential hypocrisy to something of a meme for liberals now in the same way Trump supporters turned “deplorable” into a badge of honor, but that doesn’t mean I do not resent its origin. I’m sure the right has been using it for a long time in a myriad of scenarios, but I reasonably started seeing it surface in droves around the time when Richard Spencer, the white supremacist and neo-Nazi (he also came up with the term, “alt-right,” but this is hardly important when discussing him, seeing as how the website he started once published an essay that debated the possibility of “black genocide” so let’s not give him any sort of credit for something that is garbage), was punched by a man during an interview on the day Trump was inaugurated.
“So much for the tolerant left” was the reaction from many. “Yeah, sure. Trump’s the bully.” “I thought liberals loved everybody.” All these reactions were just so nauseating. But we should keep in mind that Richard Spencer has said these things.
“This country does belong to white people, culturally, politically, socially, everything. We defined what America is.”
“Martin Luther King Jr., a fraud and degenerate in his life, has become the symbol and cynosure of White Dispossession and the deconstruction of Occidental civilization. We must overcome!”
“Trump has opened the door to nationalism in this country — not American nationalism but the white race. Once that door has fully swung open, you can’t close it.”
Since he was punched, he tweeted, “Why are there mosques in Quebec City, one of North America’s most beautiful cities?” and told Aziz Ansari he was “triggered” because Ansari’s monologue on Saturday Night Live called for Trump to stop tweeting about SNL and instead denounce hate crimes that are committed in his name against minorities in America.
So, you know, a couple things here. First thing. If punching Richard Spencer is denounced for intolerance, then why isn’t Richard Spencer denounced for intolerance? You know, he seems to only be tolerant of white people. But even if he never punched a black person, he still contemplated what it would be like to commit genocide against all black people. So much for the tolerant alt-right? I think so.
Second thing. Why is Ansari mocked and labeled as “triggered” for wanting the President of the United States to denounce hate crimes? If that makes him triggered, then I wonder how Richard Spencer would interpret the things I would say in an SNL monologue. And if wanting hate crimes to stop means you’re a “triggered libtard snowflake,” then I think it should be a title we all strive for; it does sound a lot better than neo-Nazi, after all.
Third thing. Fuck you, Richard Spencer.
Fourth thing. I know this is probably seen as irrelevant for a lot of people since Inauguration Day was over two months ago now, but I don’t want people to forget that neo-Nazis are still kicking out there. They’re still among us. Things like health care and Russian interference are among the most important issues in the entire country right now and they should not be ignored and I praise the way they’ve been handled so far by the tolerant left (just intolerant of letting the health of poor people and elderly people and women and everyone except rich men suffer and of letting Russia undermine every bit of democracy remaining in the world), but we cannot forget the rise and emboldenment of people who think black genocide should be explored, among other deplorable things.
Punching Richard Spencer is not intolerance. It’s justice. It’s far better than he deserves, too. And when I think of justice, I think of America. And when I think of America, sometimes I think of Captain America. If he was a real person, he would punch Richard Spencer. So would Indiana Jones. They built their iconic statuses on punching Nazis, fighting fascism, and walking across invisible bridges. You know, the big three actions of the 1940s.
I never saw the 1940s. Hell, I barely even saw the 1990s. But if I did, I have no doubt I would have been incredibly reliant on characters who would make me feel less alone. Yes, it’s silly. You could look up to FDR, sure, because he was someone who was actively aiming to stop the hate in the world. But, for some reason, characters like Jones and Steve Rogers are more accessible. And when Captain America would punch a Nazi, it felt as if justice was being served. That the man who represented America and patriotism and freedom and goodwill was against Nazis. (And judging by Chris Evans’s Twitter feed, he is in real life, too.)
And yes, Indiana Jones didn’t come around until the 1980s, but when he punched a Nazi, it was still badass! You know why? Nazis suck and they still suck and they have always sucked! Violence is never the answer? Pishy caca! At this point, I’d be willing to do whatever it took to make the world peaceful, to make the world a place where Nazis are nonexistent. For people who look at Captain America and Indiana Jones as heroes, I bet their anti-Nazi sentiments are doubly reassuring when consuming fiction. For people like me who see them as entertaining, it’s still reassuring. Maybe it’s silly, but they do help us feel like we’re not alone. When the government abandons you, the stories of heroes are what we need. We, too, can feel like archaeology professors or supersoldiers. If it could happen to them, it could happen to us. We can make a difference, one punched Nazi at a time.
By the way, of course I wish violence wasn’t the answer. But sometimes, one can have so much anger about something, that someone needs to get punched. There is no better target than a Nazi. I could be wrong about this, but I welcome that, too. It could be a learning opportunity, like Richard Spencer received on January 20. He just took the wrong lessons away from that. But I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t rewatch the Spencer getting punched video over and over again because I’m sick of trying to make the best of things. Why can’t things just be the best? And I’m sick of this current administration, too. I want to go back to taking the president for granted again.
I realize those might be incredibly privileged things to write, but they’re the truth. That’s the way I feel. But that’s also why I’m trying to do something about it, in the name of justice. That’s why Nazis get punched. Richard Spencer is just more cannon fodder for Indiana Jones, Captain America, the man who ambushed the Spencer interview, and whoever comes next.
Next week: the United Nations, perspective, and 2016’s Lion.
