I mentioned this in class today. Worth the full 7 min and not just a news summary. And now I've learned to embed tweets! Trouble!
Twitter is still negative value added to society overall. It amplifies the reach of bad sources (IOW it's a giant megaphone for propaganda), rewards pithy flame wars over substantive conversation, and even good sources retweet items of dubious merit, I think I just caught Joy Reid retweeting some video of people being taken off a plane as if they were on a 'no fly' list, which makes no sense.. But with careful curation and a tendency to heavily discount all new information, I might just get some personal and pedagogical use out of Twitter after all.
My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) January 10, 2021
3 comments:
I agree with Rosella’s sentiment, as well as that of Schwarzenneger. As far as the topics expressed in Schwarzenegger’s speech, it is clear that America remains and has always remained stained by white supremacists, Nazis, ignoramuses, and genuinely hateful people. This begets insurrection and murder like at the Capitol, but there are levels to evil. Respectfully, it is extremely important to correct Rosella that Hitler and Nazi Germany killed 6 MILLION JEWISH PEOPLE during the Holocaust. No offense at all to Rosella, but this is an extremely, extremely important piece of information.The Jews have been persecuted throughout history (for the last 3,000 years), with countless pogroms (think Russia), forced conversion (Greek, Roman, etc), random massacres (so many), expulsions (other religious communities, Spain, other European countries, many Arab countries) scapegoats (Black Plague=Jews, Capitol Riot=Jews, Police brutality=jews, media bias=jews, etc. etc.). The Holocasut decimated the Jewish people (along with the Romani and LGBTQ members). Though I understand that Schwarzenneger’s point was to highlight how the Capitol has the potential to be the impetus of further wrongdoing and bigotry, it is reckless and ignorant to compare the Capitol Raid to this heinous start to the Holocaust, especially because Schwarzenneger and others AREN’T emphasizing that Capitol raiders are waiving Nazi flags and the antisemitic implications in our current society. He and others also AREN’T discussing how they are blaming Jews for both the police violence at the Capitol as well as the protest itself (Crazy manipulative Jews, huh?). Many of these right-wing fanatics are Neo-Nazis, and may I remind people that the word “Nazi” is synonymous with the Jews first, fascism later. 60% of religious hate crimes in the U.S. are committed on Jews (I hear of one each day basically) and antisemitism is rising rapidly around the world, yet it is rarely talked about by anyone on mainstream social media and news. Comparing the Capitol raid to Kristallnacht may start these conversations, but not in a good way. Regardless of Schwarzenegger’s intention, now people in their minds are starting to equate the two in feeling/idea. This is DANGEROUS for America, a country with rapidly falling rates of people who believe and care about the Holocaust, school systems that don’t teach antisemtism throughout human history and only marginally during Nazi education, and with rising rates of antisemitism and bigotry. Let’s talk about the Jews, but without the stereotypes and hate please.
This was very cathartic for me and was probably too much and too much off topic. Mazel Tov if you read it. I appreciate this blog space as a way to talk about things freely, especially the topics I mentioned here, which so few talk about.
(Thank you for the correction, I have included by revised version below)
While Schwarzenegger's video definitely achieved in captivating the eyes of Americans nationwide, many are calling out his underlying message and rather unsettling comparison between the Holocaust and the riots on the U.S. Capitol which is largely inappropriate.
For starters, Kristallnacht, which killed nearly 91 people, followed by the Holocaust costing the lives of 6 million Jewish people is nowhere near the four extremist Trump supporter deaths during the Capitol riots. Instead of comparing the Holocaust to the Capitol insurrection, many are acknowledging the possible comparison to the period before Kristanlant, marked by scapegoating and the growing fear and hatred spread across Germany. However inspiring the video seemed, many are still adamant about clarifying the largely incorrect comparison and encouraging others to look instead at the democracy in Germany that was similarly undermined to the events at the Capitol, however, Schwarzenegger's brandished sword and dramatized video still must be evaluated under a critical light.
Post a Comment