Burning Racism

Way to be overdramatic Andrew. Jeez.

There’s too much nonsense going on here on Earth. It’s quite obnoxious to start to pay attention to things like politics, the economy, social issues, and contemporary pop music (T-Swift).  In the past week or so, we’ve had two major instances where darkness has fallen over the United States. One of which was of a astronomical nature, which was awesome, and the other was cultural, which was also awesome but for all the worst reasons.

About two weeks ago, on August 12, a whole bunch of folks decided to come down to one of my favorite places in the world, Charlottesville, VA, in order to display their racial grievances. Their pretext for conducting this demonstration in that town was that a statue of Robert E. Lee was scheduled to be removed from a public park as the community no longer felt that he emulated the values that they held. It was the decision of the residents of the city. It came up to a vote which they had taken a few years prior.

So because of that, and because of the weird political atmosphere we live in now, a bunch of folks who felt personally wronged that the world did not cater to them nearly as much as they were led to believe decided to vent their anger in a town that was trying to mind its own goddamned business.

Look at these fucking assholes.

I imagine that you, dear reader, are likely to be already familiar with the circumstances behind what happened here. I won’t go into how I feel about these assholes. As an someone who is not white myself, I’m not likely to be friends with any of these individuals. Even though I consider myself to be pretty self-centered, I don’t think I had the same level of entitlement that these folks keep displaying.

Get over yourself Hunter. I very much doubt anyone would want to trade places with you.

As the child of immigrants growing up in the US, I feel like the fact that I was hyper aware that I wasn’t white helped me understand the soul of the country. Simply being a person of color that reads on a regular basis helped inoculate me from the narrative of white supremacy that permeated everything around me.

Though, on a side note, I feel the need to point that Tila Tequila, one of our own, considers herself an ‘honorary’ white supremacist and is really into the whole Nazi thing. It’s pretty weird. I don’t get it, but speaking as a Vietnamese-American, I can say she’s no longer invited to the Tet party.

Anyway.

If you’re reading this, then I imagine you’re deep in whatever research you’re working on. I still maintain that my primary audience for these writings are for the poor students out there combing the digital archives for their dissertation on when it all went wrong in America. Speaking to you history students out there, I’m super sorry that you had to this obscure corner of the internet for your primary sources. Good luck on your defense later!

Given that you’re clearly someone who is well-read about the circumstances surrounding the following photograph, I won’t feel the need to belabor how much admiration I have for the counter-protesters.

Those individuals who made a stand against racial hatred and said that this was not okay will likely be venerated in the history textbooks that you probably overpaid to rent for the semester. I’m super proud of them. I’m crazy sad about the loss of Heather Heyer, the brave woman who died from that attack pictured above.

There are much better writers out there who will speak on the political ramifications of the events in Charlottesville. Doubtless they’ll span across several different overlapping topics such as the history of Robert E. Lee and the Civil War, current race relations in America, and the responses of our political leaders. If your dissertation is about any of those topics, please feel free to go search for more relevant sources for your paper. You’ve got enough work as it is.

No, what I want to focus on here is going to be super petty.

What amazes me the most about that whole mess (not really, I’m just exaggerating for the sake of rhetoric) is the fact that these assholes wanted to continue the American tradition of racially charged mob violence, but this time using tiki torches.

These things.

Tiki Torches.

What the actual fuck. At least make an effort you racist asshats.

Here’s what I mean.

Torches have had a long and respected role in the history of angry mobs. They were there when Herr Frankenstein got a little too excited about his science project, and the local community had a few questions on the ethics of his methodology.

They were there when manly men like National Treasure Nicolas Cage discovered a totally-real-not-made-up alternative history of the United States.

Flashlights to explore ruins? Nah.

Torches have been a requirement for any angry mob for a long time now. When one hears or reads the phrase “Lynch Mob” their first thoughts will be related to hatred and racism, and then the second or third thought will fall onto torches. Flaming sticks held in the hands of people who are letting their fear and prejudices get the better of them.

That’s super intimidating. Not only because of the sentiment of lots of angry people, and the harm they’re willing to impose on others, but because fire is just an inherently scary thing. It’s primal. It’s a great way to both display hate and frightening others into coercion. As a scare tactic, there’s not much that beats it.

However.

There’s something that’s lost when this particular scene,

 

began when one of these jerks was going through a Walmart somewhere, walked past one of these displays,

 

and thought to themselves “Perfect. It’ll be both scary and affordable! Plus, it’ll really complement the wicker patio furniture!”

Not that I had much reason to be disparaging toward racists, but the collective decision to use tiki torches as a tool for hate somehow makes me think less of them.

How lazy can you be? It’s not hard to make a torch. In fact, here’s a guide!

It’s found on a website called “The Art of Manliness”!!

If these xenophobes really wanted to assert white power and masculinity, they fell spectacularly short. It just shows that they feel so entitled to what they believe is the country they deserve that they can’t even take the effort to go beyond purchasing  a backyard display item that’s incorporated in every advertisement for a romantic beach getaway.

I do need a vacation…

Weirdly, the tiki torch is a perfect symbol of whiteness because they’re Polynesian in origin and through the magic of colonialism, they’ve been co-opted to be that whimsical decoration that you find in the backyards of upper-middle class white folks who caught the DIY bug for a weekend.

I’ll admit, this seems like a super cute date, but still. 

Anyway.

These bigots wanted to communicate how tough and scary they are and want to “take back” their country. Through intimidation and yelling they want to show that they’re in charge, and that they actually have power. But honestly, they’re just showing just how weak and stupid their “movement” really is.

He totally just came from a luau at his in-laws’ place.

Racists are dumb.

All in the name of trying to intimidate folks who’ve gotten used to enduring a lot of nonsense simply for existing. Y’all managed to show just how uncommitted you are about your “cause” by fucking up the simplest part of a mob.

The torches.

Logistically, they’re not hard to do, but your lack of initiative reveals a lot. Apparently your hate and resentment couldn’t get past the garden section of the local hardware store.

On the other side, a woman died in defense of decency and against hatred. That’s hardcore.

 

The choice in tiki torches really does reveal a lot more than just the shouting and the violence.

 

That’s it for this particular rant. Here I’ll leave you, poor history student with the only kind of complete darkness that I want to experience in the American South.