Posted on 08/17/2017 3:07:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The names and faces of individuals who were part of last weekend's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., are being plastered all over the Internet by civil rights advocates. It's part of an effort to shame the people who participated. But it's a tactic that can also snare some innocent people in its net.
"Yes, You're Racist" is the name of a Twitter account that has been very active in posting pictures of white supremacists at the Charlottesville march and rally. Logan Smith, who runs the account, thinks other people should see the faces of white supremacists.
"They're not wearing hoods anymore — they're out in the open," Smith says. "And if they're proud to stand with KKK members and neo-Nazis and anti-government militias, then I think the community should know who they are."
Smith says he didn't attend the rally, but he has been getting pictures from activists who were there. They share them through social media. He reposts them on his Twitter account. And on Twitter, people are happy to help him make these individuals even more public.
"Immediately, as soon as I posted those photos people (were) saying 'Oh! I went to high school with this person.' 'I had a class in college with that person.' 'I recognize this person as a prominent white supremacist in my area.' "
After getting more information, Smith would add names and places to the photos, leading to some consequences in the real world.
Cole White, who used to work at a hot dog restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., "voluntarily resigned" on Saturday after his employer confronted him about his participation in the rally.
The father of participant Jeff Tefft felt he needed to post a letter in a local newspaper disavowing his son. Pearce Tefft says that although he and his family are not racists, once his son's face and name were posted on social media they became the targets of people upset with his son.
David Clinton Wills, a visiting professor at New York University who follows social media, says he is troubled by the way that anti-racist activists are using Twitter. "Never in my lifetime did I remotely think I would vaguely defend the rights of a possibly very hateful person," says Wills, who is black and Jewish.
Nonetheless, he says, "It scares me to call that activism because it seems more like a certain condemnation and a certain judgment that ironically flies in the face of democracy itself."
Wills sees a lynch mob mentality on both the left and the right when they try to use social media to shame people.
Just last week, Google was at the center of another social media storm when a memo by a company employee critical of diversity efforts at the company went viral. When Google fired the employee, websites on the right, critical of the company's actions, released names of Google employees. Those employees were then harassed online.
For Wills, the historical parallel is Nazi Germany, in which the Third Reich encouraged citizens to name people they thought were enemies of the state. "When that became a power that your neighbor could execute or your neighbor could use against other people, the power became unchecked," he says.
Wills says all kinds of people began to get caught up in the dragnet of laws and declarations of enemies. He says social media activists are still very far from the evil that was the Third Reich. But he says people should take a deep breath and think before they press the "send" button with someone else's name in the message.
And it's also important to remember that a picture doesn't tell the whole story. It can be altered or someone could have an ax to grind and try to make it look like an individual is a racist.
Smith, who runs the "Yes, You're Racist" Twitter account, says he is willing to risk a mistake to speak out. "Ever since the days of the KKK burning crosses in people's yards, they depend on people remaining silent," Smith says. "And no matter the risk, I'm not going away."
And neither are the people who disagree with Smith. One thing is certain — in the age of social media, anyone who wants a soapbox can have one.
Doxxing is what it’s called.
Encouraging these folks to be fired or beaten up simply because they support southern heritage is a dangerous precedent.
This is why ANTIFA wears masks, despite a federal law (anti-Klan law actually) making that illegal.
I have no problem with this public outing of these people. It needs to be all the way around, including Antifa. Any individual or group that wages in violence needs to be outted. Anyone that has extremist views on either side needs to be outed publicly. Too many people think that they can do whatever they want under the guise anonymity. With their names and faces out for public rebuke and I bet most of the stops.
I do have a problem with it. Sometimes people look like other people.
A mistake can ruin someone’s life.
People should keep checking that site and if you are wrongly on there, sue the crap out of them.
So if the innocent demonstrators who just wanted the Robert E. Lee statue to stay get fired or assaulted or even killed you’re okay with that?
Well maybe they will think twice about mixing it up with groups like Antifa, KKK, neo-Nazis, BLM, white supremacists, Islamic terrorists, and others. Else, demand these people leave, be arrested, etc. you are who you associate with. A pox on all of them,
Some of those people didn’t know about the fact they were being set up.
Your flippant attitude is pathetic.
The assumption is that anyone protesting removing the statue is a “white supremacist”. It’s no accident that the left has been trying to paint all Trump supporters with that brush since he announced his run. Trump was right to point out that not everyone who was there can be assumed to be a neo-nazi. Now there are reports that the whole rally was set up by a leftist OWS guy. The end game is to destory anyone who dares oppose them and make people afraid to go to pro-Trump rallies lest they be falsely “outed” as a “white supremecist”. So you should have a problem with it.
You forget who organized the rally.
Huh?
“Now there are reports that the whole rally was set up by a leftist OWS guy.”
This is exactly why leftist wear masks when rioting.
I was born in Wisconsin but have lived in Virginia most of my adult life.
I was already a history buff when I moved into the middle of all of this history and I immersed myself in it.
I have given thousands to the Civil War Trust to preserve battlefields all over.
I am a Yankee who thinks tearing down Confederate monuments is an abomination.
He joined the group a while back. I am talking about the group, and yes, their members. This was not organized by OWS.
Agreed
Feel free to provide details, I’m just refering to posts here (I did say there are reports, not fact) that the guy who organized this was a former OWS guy who was pro-gun control and a fan of Harry Reid. If you have other info spell it out.
Logan Smith will now have the rapt and undivided attention of people he is not prepared to deal with.
Someone pass me the popcorn. (-:
Don’t buy into their narrative please. Those guys down in Charlottsville were peaceful and doing nothing until they were attacked. This antiga group has a history, a documented history, of showing up and being violent. They are 100% responsible for what happened down there...how’s that for being Politically Incorrect? People are allowed to protest peacefully without being attacked and once they’re attacked the people who are doing the attacking are the ones at fault if people fight back and someone gets hurt. They are responsible for that girl’s death just as much as the guy driving the car. That’s my opinion.
65% of the people in this country do not support removing confederate statues - to assert that every one who marched to preserve the Charlottesville statue was a KKKer or Nazi or “stood with” - implying sympathized with - the KKK or Nazis is vicious nouveau-McCarthyism - anyone injured in any way by such careless accusations should sue this guy for libel and violation of their civil rights.....
“I have no problem with this public outing of these people.”
Just curious, but how would you feel if someone was bored and decided to do this to you?
For instance what if they posted your dox on
https://www.reddit.com/r/4chan/
Hmmm?
Would you like that?
By the way, before you say “yes” this would be a really awesome time for you to sign up for https://www.lifelock.com
(-:
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