Slogan Choices In A White Supremacist Culture
By Mickey Z.
08 July, 2015
Worldnewstrust.com
“‘Who controls the past’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past’.” (Orwell)
On July 1, I attended a rally in my very own neighborhood of Astoria (Queens, NYC). The reason for the event was to show support for the people of Greece as they headed towards a crucial July 5th vote and -- considering Astoria’s large Greek population -- it was no surprise to find a large, mostly white crowd.
As I made my way through a jam-packed Athens Square Park with my camera, I encountered a large banner that read, in part: FROM NEW YORK TO GREECE WE REVOLT BECAUSE WE CAN’T BREATHE.
Yes, I took a photo (see above). Yes, I winced.
I’m aware of the Frantz Fanon reference (“When we revolt it's not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe”) but um… the last time I checked, Greece is in Europe and HELLO, this is 2015 NYC, where:
“We can’t breathe” = Eric Garner = Black Lives Matter.
Translation: I am not downplaying the crisis in Greece when I ask: WTF?
The next day, I was pondering the value of writing something about this insensitive slogan choice when a friend sent me a Counterpunch article by Ajamu Baraka about the tempered response to the Charleston shooting. Baraka opens as such:
“Where are the international marches of solidarity with African Americans? The statements from world leaders condemning the terrorist attack and calling on U.S. authorities to crack down on the white nationalist terror networks developing in the U.S.? Where are the marches in white communities condemning racism and standing with black people? Why no ‘Je Suis Charleston’?”
Yep… no catchy and popular global slogan for the Black victims of white terror.
Of course, anyone paying even a modicum of attention knows the answers to the questions Baraka has posed and also knows how and why even besieged Europeans have no problem co-opting both Fanon and Black Lives Matter as convenient slogans.
Just in case those answers aren't crystal clear, please allow me to sum ‘em all up in two words: White Supremacy.
Slogan of Solidarity: All our grievances and all our solutions are connected.
#shifthappens
Mickey Z. is the author of 12 books, most recently Occupy this Book: Mickey Z. on Activism. Until the laws are changed or the power runs out, he can be found on the Web here and here. Anyone wishing to support his activist efforts can do so by making a donation here.
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