re: #390 Barefoot Grin

I know that we could point to any number of instances as “signal” in the rise of the alt-right, but my first understanding of the potency of these forces came in the aftermath of the murder of Trayvon Martin. The bare facts of the case seemed to point to the obvious conclusion that a teenager had been gunned down while minding his own business by a man with an unhealthy fixation on policing and “black” crime in his neighborhood. Then I saw how quickly the internet filled up with memes of Trayvon as a gangster who was out on a crime spree, with arguments that GZ only averted death at the hands of this child-man-thug by the grace of the gun. And then it became an article of faith. And then I understood that all black men (and women) were the Trayvons of alt-right fantasy. Empathy, understanding—these are to be mocked because there is no point. Now, by extension, the BLM movement can only be understood as a terrorist movement operated by opportunistic thugs. Cops have a duty to save themselves and us through the power of the gun.

This psychology has a powerful hold on the minds of the alt-right and, I believe, has crystalized into an unbreakable world view that sees all “others” as dangerous predators. I think the “deplorable” distinction may work to peal off a few reasonable Trump supporters, but I’m coming to the conclusion that many will simply say “I’m not a racist; I’m a common-sense law-and-order person.”

Really thoughtful analysis. I wish someone would do a Venn diagram of the “alt-right” and the “regular right.” I believe that the main non-overlapping distinction would be the overt vs. covert beliefs. YMMV