> When we did confront Sam—say, if we caught a glimpse of a vile meme on his phone—he assured us that it was meant to be funny and that we didn’t get it. It was either “post-ironic” or referenced multiple other events that created a maze-like series of in-jokes impossible for us to follow.
I have made it clear to people I know that parroting vile positions online "because of humor" isn't really a clarification that you can make, and even when fine in person it still offers safety to those that hold and speak then with fervor. Giving white supremacist positions as a joke cannot be effectively separated from being a white supremacist (most aren't violent), and satire in this era is nearly impossible.
Perhaps having been on the receiving end of racism and it's associated violence has made me bitter. I got increasingly angry at the authors apparently laissez faire attitude about everything and trying externalize so much blame for what happened. The parents have given up on responsibility and this is the obvious result. If you don't shape the culture and ethics of your children then someone else will.
But laissez faire IS a cultural and ethical stance. “Live and let live” was a powerful cultural standard I remember from my childhood.
Deciding that these parents have “given up on responsibility” is a loaded accusation to make because their child has adopted political ideals you disagree with. Given the thoughtfulness of the piece i’d characterize it as unfair.
I have a friend who went to a Jewish high school in the U.S. (reformed, not Yeshiva) and graduated with enough Holocaust jokes to write her own anti-Semitic encyclopedia. Children challenge their surroundings, it’s part of growing up.
If Sam (from the article) feels like he has been marginalized, misrepresented and punished unfairly by a system that does not even try to understand him then I am sure he would relate the experiences relayed in a Holocaust museum. A little perspective goes a long way.
> I am sure he would relate the experiences relayed in a Holocaust museum
As am I, and as did I at around that age. It's one thing to learn about the Holocaust in a classroom setting (and I remember getting bombarded by it every year; pretty much every class that wasn't categorized as "math" or "elective" would spend what felt like - and probably was - a whole month on the Holocaust, to the point of borderline desensitization). It's another to see it up close and personally in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum; I distinctly remember the wall of shoes, and even thinking back on it right now shakes me harder than the entirety of my in-classroom education.
If you're ever in Washington DC, definitely take the time to visit the USHMM. It's free and open every day except Yom Kippur and Christmas. I wasn't enthused about it beforehand (I was a bratty teenager, and way more interested in the Air & Space Museum), but it ended up being the most memorable part of that trip, and the part I appreciated - and still appreciate - the most.
I have made it clear to people I know that parroting vile positions online "because of humor" isn't really a clarification that you can make, and even when fine in person it still offers safety to those that hold and speak then with fervor. Giving white supremacist positions as a joke cannot be effectively separated from being a white supremacist (most aren't violent), and satire in this era is nearly impossible.
Perhaps having been on the receiving end of racism and it's associated violence has made me bitter. I got increasingly angry at the authors apparently laissez faire attitude about everything and trying externalize so much blame for what happened. The parents have given up on responsibility and this is the obvious result. If you don't shape the culture and ethics of your children then someone else will.