Jan. 25 - 31, 2017 • THE DAILY AZTEC editor: Andrew Dyer • opinion@thedailyaztec.com
opinion 5
Like Spencer, he did Nazi it coming
A 1962 speech by a self-proclaimed Nazi was disrupted when a Jewish student rushed the stage Andrew Dyer opinion editor ____________________________________ The internet was abuzz this weekend as video of white nationalist Richard Spencer getting punched in the face during an interview went viral. Spencer was explaining the Pepe the Frog meme when a masked assailant entered the frame, struck him and ran away. Memes and remixes proliferated throughout the weekend, leading many to ask: “Is it okay to punch Nazis?” San Diego State has its own Nazipunching history. In 1962, the Committee for Student Action invited George Lincoln Rockwell, the leader of the American Nazi Party, to SDSU, then called San Diego State College. Rockwell’s visit was marked by a student demonstration. At one point during his Open Air Theater speech, as reported in the March 9, 1962 edition of The Daily Aztec, Rockwell began to accuse Jews of being part of a “Communist conspiracy.” That’s when Ed Cherry, a physical education senior, confronted Rockwell on-stage, culminating in “a quick right hook.” Rockwell was rushed away to the offices of The Daily Aztec through a throng of protesters, who pelted him with eggs. Cherry’s actions, and those of the demonstrators, were thoroughly rebuked in the pages of The Daily Aztec. The prevailing argument in 1962, and one that has been echoed in the wake of the Spencer attack — that repugnant ideas could be overcome by rational disagreement — is flawed. Germany, in the late 1920s, was not void of rational disagreement with Nazism. It did not prevent the rise of the Third Reich.
U.S. media today is in a similar struggle today against a rising white nationalist movement — one which Spencer, deny it as he might, is a leader. However, all of the rational disagreement with this toxic and destructive ideology did not prevent its adherents from electing Donald Trump to the presidency. Spencer, who denies being a Nazi, famously led a postelection rally in which the audience engaged in Nazi salutes after he ended his speech with a cry of, “Hail victory! Hail Trump!” In the video, before he is punched, Spencer answers “no” when a bystander asks him if he is a neo-Nazi. There are not many non-Nazis who are constantly being asked if they are, in fact, Nazis. In the decades since 1962, social norms worked to suppress neo-Nazi rhetoric, like Spencer’s, in the U.S. For example, as Rockwell learned back then, one potential consequence of public alignment with Nazism was to be punched in the face. That is not to condone violence — assault is a crime — but even Dr. E. B. O’Byrne, vice president of the college in 1962, admitted it was difficult to expect students to sit quietly and listen to Nazi ideology. “It’s easy to say that’s the way to act,” he told the Daily Aztec, “but when a person begins to attack you and your ethnic minority group, you can’t say what you would do.” Nazism, white supremacy and white nationalism never went away, it went underground. But the old neo-Nazis found a new avenue of recruitment, retention and propaganda with the rise of the internet. Sites like Reddit, 4chan and 8chan have supplanted Stormfront as hubs for white nationalists. These online safe spaces provide fertile ground
Senior Ed Cherry slugs the leader of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell, at a campus speech. The Daily Aztec Archives, March 9, 1962
for Nazi ideology to permeate the zeitgeist so that users, who might never call themselves “neo-Nazis,” have unwittingly adopted their ideology as their own. The anonymity of the internet has led to users becoming more comfortable with a certain type of bigotry — a type that, if said in public, could get a person punched. It is therefore understandable how Spencer could forget the lessons
of Nazis past. Comfortable in his electronic cocoon of like-minded racists, he forgot that in the real world, words have consequences. Rockwell learned it in 1962, and in 2017, Spencer was also on the other end of a valuable lesson. If you walk like a Nazi, talk like a Nazi and hold rallies where people salute you like a Nazi, you might just find yourself on the wrong side of someone’s fist.
'Total Frat Move' exploits women at SDSU Andrea Lopez-VillafaÑA mundo azteca editor ___________________________________ Tagging women by the pussy seems to be the norm for Instagram account TFM Girls. The account with at least one million followers shares daily pictures of what the organization considers, “the hottest college girls in the world.” Women can submit pictures via email or are contacted by the account to be featured on the page. There is nothing wrong with women taking control of their sexuality and expressing it however they choose, but it is important to understand the platform on which it is being presented. TFM Girls is affiliated with another account, Total Frat Move. According to their website, TFM is a “news and entertainment brand” that provides college and fraternity humor. On the more than 3,700 posts of women in their bathing suits, most have “Total Frat Move” tagged on their breasts, butts or vaginas. The account is not being used as a means for women to own their sexuality in an empowering way, but to exploit them. ¬ The account’s name alone implies
that TFM Girls, or Total Frat Move Girls, are their girls — as in their property. Nathian Rodriguez, assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, said the tags on the photographs are symbolic. “It’s saying that’s your face (but) that’s our vagina,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said it is a masculine idea — “bro code” — that “sharing is caring,” and women who belong to “brothers” belong to everyone else, too. Rodriguez’s research focuses on media’s effect at the societal level, focusing on identity in minority populations. He said that this site is not aimed at women, but at young males who feel the need to adhere to masculine norms. Out of all the women on TFM Girls, at least 20 are from San Diego State. Communications junior Samm Jandrisch has been featured on TFM Girls three times, but she did not submit photographs. Jandrisch said TFM contacted her to feature her on TFM Girls but she never replied. Her photos were taken from her public account and posted, anyway. “At first I was a little bit worried that people would think I sent it in,” she said. Jandriseh said she gained new followers on her personal Instagram account and
received messages from strangers after being on the page. “I don’t feel disrespected at all,” she said, “I just feel that’s the type of account they have. That’s what the guys that follow (them) are looking for.” Rodriguez said it’s the “boys will be boys” mentality that makes it socially acceptable, along with having a president that thinks its okay to “grab (women) by the pussy.” Grabbing or tagging — where is the line? Jandrisch was not aware that in addition to being on their Instagram, she was also featured as “TFM Babe of the Day” on the Total Frat Move website. On the site, strangers post comments and critiques of women that range from offensive to disgusting. An article on their website, “A mathematically perfect ranking of the 37 hottest girls on earth” lists different Instagram accounts of girls they call the “hottest on earth”. “Send your girlfriend shopping, close the blinds, secure that belt around your neck, and enjoy,” the article says. “That is a very masculine ethos of what college or frat boys should be,” Rodriguez said. “The photographs are presented in a way that says, ‘look, here are a bunch
of girls that we think are hot, and you should too, otherwise you’re not a man like us. And, oh yeah, you should masturbate to them.’” The women are presented as property. Some aren’t even given the choice of being on the account, but their Instagram accounts are public. TFM Girls is degrading and disgusting. To support this account, website and everything it stands for, is embarrassing. Understand that you're being associated with people like username katalyst, who commented on one picture, "A bit of a butter face but I guess if you're only seeing the top of her head it wouldn't matter much," or username J.W. Dunddee, who said "Fat girls stumble across her Instagram page and spontaneously develop eating disorders," or username Rowdy_ Degenerate, who commented "I've never seen a more perfect butt to pee in." TFM Girls is not an Instagram account men should be proud of following. There are sex-positive avenues for women to express themselves. They should not put themselves up for critique and ridicule on a site designed to appeal to pigs.