More than two sides to the argument

I spent Saturday night with Evan and all day today with both Bella and Evan, so I’ve not had time to think much about Saturday, but I have seen (partly thanks to you) links to articles from the BBC, the LA Times, and our local TV stations and newspaper, and I am annoyed with all of them. As usual, the Guardian comes near to getting it right, but even the Guardian coverage focuses on violence and chest-beating. What is happening in the USA is neither a football game nor a Civil War, and it is certainly not a contest of two groups of gladiators.

What we had was something like 500 blustering, gun-toting right-wing extremists countered by 2000 or so antifascists who had the nerve to oppose them in the streets using a variety of different tactics. (To put that in perspective, over 6000 people attended a concert on the same night by sixteen-year-old singer Jojo Siwa, famous for glitter, unicorns, bubblegum, and the bows she wears in her hair. Bella and her mother were in that crowd, which is why I was keeping Evan.)

Rabbi Debra Kolodny, with whom I organized the event that began the antifascist activities on August 17, said this, three days before the event: “There is no equivalence between racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, homophobic violence and those who say no to it. Antifa must not be scapegoated. We are a city that is in truth anti-fascist.” Those who wear black clothing and face masks are employing one tactic. Those who wear banana suits or clown wigs are going for a different tactic; singing and dancing, or praying and meditating are also tactics; but we are all on the same “side,” meaning we all oppose white nationalism. The efforts of the media to split “Antifa” from the rest of us who are antifascist are typical of divide-and-conquer propaganda. We aren’t having it. 

Today Bella was tired and a little grumpy and let-down after the thrill of the Jojo concert, but by sunset she was back to her usual gymnastics. She repeatedly turned a handstand into a backbend on a steep hill made of slippery faux grass. Evan still doesn’t want photos made of him, though I sneaked this one of his back while Bella was inverted. I thought I would have Monday to recuperate, but their mom has the chance to work locally for a few days while their dad is working out of town, so they’ll be with me again tomorrow.