The shiny veneer of patriotism is wearing wafer-thin for many as America continues to show us what it REALLY thinks about freedom, justice and inequality for all – from its condemnation of Colin Kaepernick’s protest and his subsequent blackballing, to incredulous reaction to the violence and death that was visited upon Charlottesville, Virginia by legions of white supremacists.
Yesterday, Texas A&M University cancelled a rally that was to feature white supremacist Richard Spencer as the headline speaker and was organized by white supremacist Preston Wiginton. The rally press release promoting the event was titled Today Charlottesville, Tomorrow Texas A&M.
Richard Spencer was a headliner at the Charlottesville event as well, which descended into chaos. Spencer spoke at A&M in December and drew a crowd of 400, along with some massive resistance via a counter protest that drew thousands. Wiginton reportedly decided to throw the A&M event on Saturday and was inspired by the chaos of Charlottesville.
After consultation with law enforcement and considerable study, Texas A&M is cancelling the event scheduled by Preston Wiginton at Rudder Plaza on campus on September 11 because of concerns about the safety of its students, faculty, staff, and the public, the university said in a statement Monday.
It’s no wonder why A&M is cancelling the event. However, it does appear disingenuous.
Richard Spencer Interview CNN With Kamau Bell (4/30/17)
Interview of Richard Spencer by Kamau Bell for his new show on CNN. April 30th, 2017
Richard Spencer has been spewing hate and vitriol for years. Why the sudden shame, A&M? If white supremacy was good for business the last time why not rake in those crazy racist dollars?
The cat is completely out of the bag regarding the complicity of far too many American institutions in harboring and abetting racists under the guise of free speech. Im sure they’re proud of themselves for cutting off a gangrenous limb in favor of avoiding the public relations hit that was sure to ensue.
The White Lives Matter event was to be held on September 11th in an easily discernable attempt to mix racism with patriotism, and no post-2000 happening gets folks from many different backgrounds all misty-eyed quite like 9/11.
It’s a despicable, egregious and quite frankly desperate attempt at weaponizing whatever pure portion of American patriotism that remains within the hearts of people amid the recurring cells of cancerous bigotry that continually menaces us all.
