Jennifer Lawrence sure isn’t doing anything to endear herself to white nationalists these days. Probably because she’s, you know, a good person.
First she had the audacity to pose in front of the Statue of Liberty, which was apparently super upsetting to the racists over at Breitbart.
And now she is going off on the white nationalists and Nazis who marched with torches in Charlottesville.
Over the weekend, Charlottesville, Virginia was rocked by Nazi protesters who marched with torches and militia-style weapons and body armor.
Some of them were brandishing the stars-and-bars of the Confederate flag.
Others wore or displayed the Nazi swastika.
It was horrifying and shameful.
And that was before the terrorist attack where a Nazi-sympathizer slammed on the gas and plowed his car into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters.
That was before groups of these white nationalists armed themselves with rods and sticks and planks of wood and began beating black men whom they caught alone while other white nationalists, armed with guns, stood guard.
(There’s video of that, folks, and it is appalling)
Many people used photos of the protests to call for the nation to figure out who these disgusting human beings are so that they can be exposed and lose friends, careers, and relationships as people come to know them for who they really are.
It’s not just regular Twitter activists, either.
Celebrities are jumping on board, using their platform to get more people to see the photos in the hopes that more of these men can be identified.
Jennifer Lawrence stands among them.
Jennifer Lawrence’s caption did not mince words:
“These are the faces of hate. Look closely and post anyone you find. You can’t hide with the internet you pathetic cowards!”
She’s absolutely right, of course.
Some of the white supremacists who marched in that hateful display have already been identified.
One of the identified Charlottesville Nazis by the name of Peter Cvjetanovic is trying to convince the world that he isn’t really racist.
It’s not going over so well.
Another one of those horrible white nationalists has already been publicly disowned by his family.
That is absolutely the right move.
Would you invite a Nazi to dinner? We wouldn’t, either.
Some might argue that identifying these men amounts to “doxxing,” or disclosing anonymous people’s personal information over the internet.
A great example of doxxing is when Trump gave out Lindsay Graham’s personal phone number because Lindsay Graham spoke out against him.
Not that it matters (we’re not wringing our hands over people doxxing Nazis), but we wouldn’t call putting names to faces “doxxing.”
They were bare-faced participants in a very public march.
If they didn’t want to be identified, maybe they should have worn their white hoods.
And no, Jennifer Lawrence isn’t “bullying” these men, either.
They’re literally Nazis. No hyperbole needed. They’re doing the salute and everything.
The fallout from Charlottesville has reached more than just the racists who were physically present.
Confederate monuments that should never have been erected in the first place have been taken down all over the South.
In some cases, local governments decided that it was time for them to come down after seeing inescapable evidence of what those memorials mean to the worst elements of American society.
In other cases, such as in Durham, NC, where a heavily gerrymandered legislature had previously made it illegal for local governments to take down those monuments (this law came from the “small government” crowd, somehow), activists took matters into their own hands, to great applause from across the nation.
One tweet brilliantly described the Durham statue being taken down as “How Millennials are killing participation trophies.”
Notorious Nazi and eminently punchable face-haver Richard Spencer was arrested in Charlottesville.
A major white supremacist website, Daily Stormer, got shut down because businesses can no longer ignore that these people are real and feel emboldened.
Perhaps the most large-scale fallout has been with regard to Donald Trump, whose election was a major source of perceived validation by white nationalists across the nation.
(As Hillary Clinton warned us all last year, but not enough people listened)
Trump, who sometimes gets up at 6am and starts tweets that could provoke nuclear war, seemed extremely resistant to condemn the white nationalist marchers on Saturday, instead condemning “many sides” even though this is about as morally clear-cut of a situation as you can find in American politics.
Trump has tweeted multiple times in the past to condemn Kristen Stewart for cheating on Robert Pattinson, but he couldn’t work up the nerve to even refer to white nationalists as being what they are.
It wasn’t until Monday when he finally trotted out for a second attempt at a press conference where he finally said the right words.
Too little, too late.
Trump has lost another three CEOs from his industry advice council over the way that he dragged his heels to condemn the racists involved over the weekend.
Again, events in Charlottesville included a deadly terrorist attack in which one American was killed and dozens of others were injured, but Trump balked at talking about it, presumably because it didn’t fit his preferred narrative.
He’s said and done many vile things, but we have to wonder if Trump will ever be able to live this down.
