Clothes Make The Man, or What Your MAGAt Hat Means

You're aware of the ugly incident last Friday on the National Mall in D.C. -- a three-way clash involving a small number of Native Americans participating in the Indigenous Peoples March, a large group of white Catholic high school boys participating in an anti-abortion march, and five members of a weird religious sect who were there to "preach" at anyone who happened to be there.

The Black Hebrew Israelites were engaging in some confrontational street "ministry," first haranguing the Indian group, then giving the business to the boys on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Nathan Phillips, an Omaha tribal elder, got between the two groups while trying to lead his marchers up the steps to conclude their day in the memorial.  His way to the top was blocked by the boys from Covington Catholic, who taunted and harassed him, yelling "Build the wall," "Go back to the reservation," doing the tomahawk chop and a mock-Indian dance.  One of the Covington boys, Nick Sandmann, stood chin to chin with Mr. Phillips, silently smiling and smirking.

Covington Catholic is in greater Cincinnati, across the Ohio River on the Kentucky side.  It may not be surprising for the area, but it's disappointing and inappropriate for a school to pull a busload of kids out of class to join in an anti-abortion protest.  That's your tuition/indoctrination dollars at work.

Most disappointing and inappropriate of all is the school allowed (encouraged?) its students to walk around our nation's capitol while wearing MAGA hats and sweatshirts.  Doesn't the school administration realize what MAGA clothes symbolize?  How about the parents and chaperones?

Wearing a MAGA hat means you proudly support and identify with the fake president who is a racist, misogynist, belligerent provocateur.  It means you too are a racist hate-monger.  It means you want to provoke a response in others.  It sends a loathsome message.  You might as well wear a swastika, or a KKK hood, or a Confederate flag.

The face of the incident, young Mr. Sandmann wore his MAGA hat that day and, after the fact, has now hired a crisis management P.R. firm to help him navigate the shit river of his own making.  Some of that lovely spin:

• Sandmann says his obstruction of Mr. Phillips was "not disrespectful."
• He says he "had every right" to stand in Phillips way, and claimed that Phillips "invaded my personal space."
• Said he was thinking, "I'll stand here as long as you want to bang this drum in my face."
• Said, "I'm a faithful Christian and practicing Catholic."
• Proclaimed, "We're a Catholic school.  They don't tolerate racism.  None of my classmates are racist people."

Rule Number 1, Nick, if you're really so pious and non-racist, you should never wear a MAGA hat, you insolent dumbass!

Rule Number 2, if your school permitted its students to wear blackface to a basketball game, maybe they do tolerate racism after all.