Confrontation On the National Mall

A lot of applications for marches and gatherings were approved for Friday, 18 January, on the National Mall in Washington, D. C.  The two most notable, due to later events, was the March for Life, a march and get-together for people against abortion, and the Indigenous Peoples March, for Native Americans to protest their lack of respect, lands, and laws from the white immigrants who took over and raped their land. (From that statement alone, you know where my heart lies.) 
   There are three groups of people in this story.  A group of all white male students from Covington Catholic High School, a private all-male college preparatory school in Covington, Kentucky, were waiting for their bus to pick them up after their participation in the March for Life.  A small group of men, members of the Black Hebrew Israelites, had also met on the National Mall to speak out about their religion, and their perceived mistreatment by other religious groups and the media.  And Native Americans at the Indigenous Peoples March were represented by many tribal elders, spiritual leaders, and speakers, as well as everyday tribal members.
   The group of Catholic boys, many wearing red MAGA hats, drew the attention of the Black Hebrew Israelites.  The BHI group began taunting and shouting abuse at the group of boys.  After a few minutes of verbal abuse, the boys began shouting back.  Racial epithets were yelled by both sides.  The Natives Americans had finished their March, and approaching the two groups, heard and saw their strife.  Nathan Phillips, an elder in the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska, a singer and drummer, and someone who served in the US Marine Corp from 1972 through 1976 observed the loud clash.  Phillips decided to approach the two groups, and insert himself, playing his drum and singing the American Indian Movement Song, to try to create unity and to break down the hostility between the two groups.
   At first, this seemed to work.  Both sides quieted and looked at him and his friends.  Both groups, the boys and the Israelites backed up, making space between them.  Nathan Phillips continued his singing and drumming, and walked between the two groups. Hoping to create peace between them, he stopped and sang.  The BHI group backed away.  But, after a minute, a young man from the Catholic school group walked up to the singer, entered his personal space, and proceeded to paste a very strange smile upon his face.
  As Phillips continued to sing and play his drum, the young man appeared to lean even more into his personal space, with the smile staying in place.  Then his friends from the Catholic school began gathering in a tight group around him and the singer.  The boys began making the infamous Tomahawk Chop sign and making the sounds from the Florida State University's War Song.  After this they began chanting "Build the Wall" as well as "Trump 2020" - all specifically pointed at a Tribal Elder who was trying to defuse a racially-charged situation between this group of young white men and a smaller group of adult Black Hebrew Israelites.
   We know the Tribal Elder and singer was Nathan Phillips.  We found out the young man is Nick Sandmann, in the 11th grade at Covington Catholic High School.  As soon as the incident became a sensation on Facebook and YouTube, Sandmann's family hired a public relations team to shine up his image and coach him for any interviews he might have. (The public relations group is partially owned by a conservative columnist and commentator who occasionally appears on CNN.)
   (A personal aside - the smile, smirk, grin, rictus of the face, or whatever you want to call it, which Nick Sandmann had plastered on his face as he stood squarely in front of Nathan Phillips and refused to move, made me think of a great white shark...)

Nick Sandmann at left, Nathan Phillips at right.

Still photo taken from video by Kaya Taitano.

   Nathan Phillips is known as a peaceful man, and one who wishes for serenity for all.  He has stated, many times, since the incident that he went between the two groups to promote peace and to calm the situation down, as the intensity seemed to be rising.  Having watched a 20 minutes section of video several times, I think that was what he was doing - and might have accomplished, had not Sandmann decided to confront him, the pacifier.  Immediately after the event, Sandmann stated that during the entire time he was being respectful and that his friends did nothing wrong or hurtful.
    Nick Sandmann was interviewed on NBC by Savannah Guthrie.  In my opinion, the interview was a bust.  the boy had been well coached and knew all the right words to use, even though they sounded odd, coming from his mouth.  I think the most honest moment in the conversation was when she asked the boy to explain the meaning of his smirk.  Showing him a still photo, she asked "What do you think this looks like?"  Sandmann replied, "I see it as a smile saying that, this is the best you're going to get out of me. You get any further reaction of aggression.  And I'm willing to stand here as long as you want to hit this drum in my face."  (I wonder if he meant to say "no" further reaction, rather than any?)  Instead of pushing back against his plainly rehearsed replies, Guthries showed the video of his classmates making tomahawk chops, and the boy claimed he wasn't aware of that happening.
    One of the most interesting things that Nick Sandmann did say was that he "wished he could have left."  Could have left?  What was keeping him there?  He was not rooted to that spot, he could easily have backed up and walked away.  He was enjoying being in the spotlight, the center of attention of all the cameras.
    In researching the Covington Catholic High School and it's past, a photo and video were found from 2012, of a group of CCHS students at a basketball game, yelling at an African-American opponent.  I admit, it is the student cheering section, and I understand the idea of "Black-out Night" (as the local university's colors are black and gold) - but there are students in the photo wearing black face paint, and one of them is making a white supremacy sign with his hand in said photo right in front of the black opponent.  That is disgusting.

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  One thing that has been discovered - this photo was posted and re-tweeted by a Twitter account that has since been taken down.  The Twitter account was used on an average of 130 times per day, and most of the content was divisive to America as a whole.

  The tweet, and this confrontation, IS divisive and subversive to our American way of life.  We Americans should be like the Three Musketeers - "All for one, and one for all!"