Neo-Nazis stormed through Nashville again, where I have several relatives. It got pretty ugly when they waved swastikas, insulted kids, and took on cops. While some politicians and a few in the conservative media covered this, it was largely ignored, a far cry from the 24-hour news blanket of pro-Palestinian protesters in May.
More should be done to criticize these odious Neo-Nazi rallies, and their anti-Semitic slurs, which inspire killings of all Americans, not just Jews.
While running on the treadmills at Planet Fitness in May, another business I am supposed to boycott in our tedious “culture wars,” I watched Fox News provide wall-to-wall coverage of pro-Palestinian protesters on college campuses like Columbia with wild claims that Jewish people are being targeted for their faith, ignoring cases where both groups came together to pray.
Meanwhile, for the other 98 percent of the year, we have cases like this past week, where two groups of Neo-Nazis marched in Nashville, for the second time this year. They also bullied several kids as young as the age of 10, who had gathered to play on tub drums for anyone wanting to listen or give a donation, because they looked different. These Neo-Nazis’ slogans and swastika flags let us know exactly where they stand when it comes to the Jewish people.
As News Channel 5 in Nashville reported from the Metro Police “Our officers were continuously subjected to the Neo-Nazi hate rhetoric over several days last week. We stayed in continuous contact with the District Attorney’s Office and the Metropolitan Legal Department concerning the group’s actions and constitutionally protected free speech.”
Sure could use those “Back the Blue” folks to back Nashville officers, against these Neo-Nazis.
A Nashville bar employee was hit by a Neo-Nazi with a swastika flag. Charged with a felony, the Neo-Nazi got his bond reduced. Fox17 covered it. Nationally, not so much.
I was pleased to see some Tennessee Republicans take a stand as WKRN reported. We sure could have used their support years ago after the “Unite the Right” rally, when a resolution asked the Tennessee legislature to condemn white supremacy and Neo-Nazism. The resolution died because no lawmaker on the subcommittee voted to discuss it, also noted by WKRN.
While the national Fox News almost completely ignored the story, a far cry from early May of 2024 when they gave 24-hour news coverage to the events at Columbia, I must compliment the conservative NewsNation for covering the event, and touting a Peace Walk in response to the Neo-Nazis. If NewsNation could report on it, where was the extensive Fox News coverage?
At the same time as this rally, Donald Trump made the unhinged claim that Kamala Harris, who is married to a Jewish man, is somehow anti-Jewish and claimed any Jewish person who votes Democratic should have their head examined. He’s borrowing from that same playbook where Vladimir Putin claims the Jewish Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky leads a Neo-Nazi regime, false statements fact-checked by the BBC.
Candace Owens was supposed to be part of a Donald Trump fundraiser but did not attend the event (On “X,” Owens says she wasn’t dropped). “Unless there is some missing context, it’s a disgrace for @DonaldJTrumpJr to appear with one of the leading antisemitic conspiracists online,” tweeted Philip Klein, the editor of National Review Online.” The National Review is pretty conservative, as is The Jerusalem Post which reported this event and quote.
Hate speech in Nashville echoes what motivated the massacres at the Tree of Life Synagogue, a Jewish Community Center, an El Paso Wal-Mart, a Buffalo supermarket many others. I wish more people recognized these threats aren’t just to Jewish-Americans, but all Americans.
John A. Tures is Professor of Political Science and Coordinator of the Political Science Program at LaGrange College, in LaGrange, Georgia.