A symmetry of hatreds

July 18th, 2015 by Charles Cameron

[ by Charles Cameron — in which a couple hundred people mimic our society at large ]

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There were reports of some people shouting “white power!” while others were shouting “black power!” at rival protests outside the South Carolina State House today — but that just means that opposing views were expressed. The report that really caught my attention was this one, from The Hill:

The media outlet’s coverage documented protesters from both rallies shouting obscenities, racial slurs and slogans at one another.

It’s not so much the simple symmetry of opposing slogans that troubles me, it’s the symmetry of obscenities and racial slurs that’s so depressing.

Posted in America, Charles Cameron, form, symmetry, Uncategorized | 1 comment

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  1. Charles Cameron:

    July 19th, 2015 at 3:24 am

    With better detailing, from NYT:

    Ku Klux Klan and New Black Panther Party Protest at South Carolina Capitol
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    With police officers watching from nearby rooftops and a din of racial slurs heard on the pavement below, members of the Ku Klux Klan and the New Black Panther Party appeared at dueling rallies outside the South Carolina State House on Saturday, eight days after officials here removed the Confederate battle flag from the Capitol grounds.
    .
    Despite sporadic scuffles and hours of inflammatory rhetoric from white and black demonstrators alike, the authorities largely maintained order and prevented any significant violence. The police made five arrests, and the South Carolina Department of Public Safety estimated that the State House crowd, including onlookers, had at one point swelled to about 2,000 people. They chanted — or at least heard — volleys of incendiary speech and shouts of “white power!” and “black power!”
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    Bystanders watched people wave flags celebrating Pan-Africanism, the Confederacy and the Nazi Party. And they watched as black demonstrators raised clenched fists, and white demonstrators performed Nazi salutes.

    Clenched fists, Nazi salutes.. clearly NYT reporter Alex Blinder too has an eye for the symmetries.