Affirmative Framing

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AFFIRMATIVE FRAMING:

THE ROLE OF HEGEMONIC FORCES ON THE FRAMING OF SOCIAL

MOVEMENTS AND THEIR PARTICIPANTS

A Thesis

Presented to the faculty of the Department of Sociology

California State University, Sacramento

Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

Sociology

Brent Clark Jr

SPRING 2018

Brent Clark Jr

AFFIRMATIVE FRAMING:

THE ROLE OF HEGEMONIC FORCES ON THE FRAMING OF SOCIAL

MOVEMENTS AND THEIR PARTICIPANTS

A Thesis

Brent Clark Jr

Approved by:

______, Committee Chair Dr. Kevin Wehr

______, Second Reader Dr. Andrea Moore

______Date

iii

Student: Brent Clark Jr.

I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis.

______, Graduate Coordinator Dr. Manuel Barajas

Department of Sociology

Abstract

AFFIRMATIVE FRAMING:

THE ROLE OF HEGEMONIC FORCES ON THE FRAMING OF SOCIAL

MOVEMENTS AND THEIR PARTICIPANTS

Brent Clark Jr

This research analyzes, deconstructs, and compares discrepancies in efficacy and legitimacy between non-majoritarian and White Identity Movements. This project analyzes reactions to and portrayals of Colin Kaepernick/BLM and Richard Spencer/the

Alt-right within tweets found in the “News” section of Twitter. This research considers the tone and contents of the frames that are used to describe the considered political figures and movements. Findings illustrate current inconsistencies in the ways which non-majoritarian identity movements are framed in comparison to other movements and offers considerations as to how these realities affect the larger political discourse within society.

______, Committee Chair Dr. Kevin Wehr

______Date v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this project would not have been possible without the support of my family, friends, professors, and colleagues at the Peer and Academic Resource Center.

This thesis is being completed in the name of every student who has ever wondered why their brain works just a little bit differently.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments...... vi

List of Tables ...... viii

INTRODUCTION ...... ……………………………………………………….. 1

LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 8

METHODS ...... 39

RESULTS ...... 48

DISCUSSION ...... 55

CONCLUSION ...... 87

References ...... 96

vii

LIST OF TABLES Tables Page

1. “Identity Politics” Sample Results ...... ………………………………. 48

2. “Identity Politics” Crosstabs ...... ……………………….……. 48

3. Most Common Words in “Identity Politics” Sampling Frame ….……….…... 49

4. “Alt-right” Sample Results ...... ……………………… 50

5. Most Common Words in “Alt-right” Sampling Frame……………..………… 50

6. “Alt-right” Crosstabs……………………..………..……………………...…... 50

7. “Richard Spencer” Sample Results……………………………….....……...… 51

8. Most Common Words in “Richard Spencer” Sampling Frame …………....… 51

9. “Black Lives Matter” Sample Results …………………………………...... … 52

10. Most Common Words in “Black Lives Matter” Sampling Frame………….... 52

11. “Black Lives Matter” Crosstabs ………..………………..……………….…. 53

12. Table 12: “Colin Kaepernick” Sample Results ……………………………... 54

13. Table 13: Most Common Words in “Colin Kaepernick” Sampling Frame .... 54

14. Table 14: “Colin Kaepernick” Crosstabs …………………………….…...… 54

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INTRODUCTION

“…we have got to take on Trump’s attacks against the environment, against women,

against Latinos and blacks and people in the gay community, we’ve got to fight back

every day on those issues. But equally important, or more important: We have got to

focus on bread-and-butter issues that mean so much to ordinary Americans.”

– Bernie Sanders, October 30th 2017 as quoted by Willstein 2017.

This quote is the embodiment of just how normalized the marginalization of certain members of our society has become. In a world where being brave enough to point out a blatant lie by the sitting President just once can earn you the label of progressive icon, it can be stunning to hear rhetoric which relegates women, members of ethnic minority groups, and people who identify as anything other than heterosexual as the non-ordinary “other” from the likes of Bernie Sanders.

I am in interested in how people with the ability to shape narratives frame non- majoritarian social movements in comparison to what I call White Identity Movements.

By non-majoritarian I simply mean movements whose goals and participants exist in direct opposition to traditional manifestations of social control i.e. White Supremacy,

Patriarchy, Heteronormativity, etc. The term White Identity Movements refers to movements which form based around notions of shared White identity and history. To draw this comparison, I will examine the framing of two ideologically polar figures,

Colin Kaepernick and Richard Spencer, within the context of tweets appearing in the

“News” tab on Twitter. For the purpose of this study Kaepernick and Spencer will serve

2 as proxies for their respective movements (Black Lives Matter, the Alt-right), in an attempt to analyze larger trends in how media coverage around these figures and movements are framed.

This piece opens with a quote from politician Bernie Sanders on his ideal vision for the future of the Democratic Party. Many readers may not see a problem with the quote, and may even wholeheartedly agree with him. But for many people from traditionally marginalized communities, the quote embodies the very issues which I hope to explore in this work. When Sanders distinguishes issues of racial inequality or gender oppression from “bread-and-butter issues”, he delegitimizes the concerns of individuals from these and other oppressed groups. The fact that this type of marginalization is often perpetuated by thinkers and politicians from both the left and the right is reflective of the ways in which hegemonic understandings of legitimacy serve to systemically invalidate non-majoritarian political movements. When the needs and desires of individuals from ethnic or sexual minorities are marginalized by the same people who are expected to advocate for them, the very nature of conversation and discourse and debate within society can serve to harm and marginalize already vulnerable people. An examination of framings as performed in this project can help to illuminate how these incongruences manifest and the effect they have on society.

The goal of this project is to examine the effects of ideological, political, and cultural hegemony on framings of Colin Kaepernick, Richard Spencer, and their associated movements. Hegemony as presented by Laclau and Mouffe (2014), is a type of political relation which emerges through conflict between competing conceptions of

3 reality. This thesis will explore how larger social forces such as White supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity are reflected presently in crucial conversations. In society individuals often receive more social condemnation for being openly anti-racist or anti-sexist than they do for being blatant bigots or misogynists. In 2018 if you’re a Black sports reporter who questions the morality and stability of the President you can be suspended from your job (Bruell 2017) and if you’re a Black athlete who kneels to protest racial injustice you can be publicly berated and blackballed from your league

(Serwer 2017). Simultaneously if you’re a neo-Nazi you can work in the White house

(Thrush and Steinhauer 2017), and if you’re a pedophile you can run for U.S. Senate

(Zauzmer 2017). There are inherent problems and far-reaching ramifications to the ways in which hegemonic framings present the current socio-political climate through the simultaneous reflection and perpetuation of these aforementioned social forces.

The reality is that there is an inadequate amount scholarship which looks to consider the concerns of members of marginalized groups within the context of society as a whole. In the words of Ta-Nehisi Coates (2017) “Sympathetic op-ed columns and articles are devoted to the plight of working-class whites when their life expectancy plummets to levels that, for blacks, society has simply accepted as normal. White slavery is sin. Nigger slavery is natural.” This project looks to address these very intellectual contradictions. This thesis channels the work of Avery Godon by illuminating the presence of these apparitions which have plagued mainstream discourse for over a century (Gordon 2011). By considering the role of social forces such as racism, patriarchy, and capitalism on the development and framing of political movements I hope

4 to contribute to the creation of a society where these conversations occur more honestly and are more reflective of the actual societal conditions in which people have to exist.

I employed an intersectional approach within various aspects of my analysis.

Collins and Blige (2016) define critical inquiry as work which is attentive to intersecting power relations, this will be a guiding element of this analysis. Obviously, this work considers the role which race and White Supremacy play in framings of Kaepernick and

Spencer, but it will also look to consider how other social forces such as patriarchy and capitalism affect initial framings and subsequent reactions to these figures. I conducted this research while keeping in mind that people come to their political sensibilities through the consumption of both academic and non-academic information. A broadening of the type of sources used for analysis allows for a more accurate perception of exactly how individuals come to form their political sensibilities. Moving away from the privileging of information produced within the confines of academia lends credence and validity to ideas generated by activists, politicians, and popular writers. Expanding the knowledge base used for this project represents another facet of my attempts to embody intersectionality as praxis within the framework of this project. It is impossible to do a thorough and effective analysis of social reality while only considering data which was gestated amongst academicians. Academics, politicians, nor citizens come to their political understandings through homogenous intellectual acculturation, and thus it would be contrary to the true objective of this highly theoretical study to work with data with non-academic origins.

The strict definition of what qualifies a work as scholarly is indicative of the problem represented by the disconnect between the academic sphere and the rest of society. In performing an analysis on the framings of the Alt-right and Black Lives

Matter it becomes all but necessary to at times draw from popular literature as the sheer nature of academia restricts the amount of recent literature centered on these two recently emerging movements. So thus, pulling from both scholarly and popular literature also allows for a more robust discussion of the subject matter, while simultaneously being more reflective of the process through which individuals form the opinions and viewpoints which subsequently dictate the framing of political figures and movements.

As our lives become more dependent on the internet and the fast-paced production of knowledge, academics must be willing to spend more critical attention to the development of ideas and norms within these spaces. As Audre Lorde so famously stated

“the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house (1984) and thus this work represents an attempt at producing sound academic work which possesses the explicit aim of contributing to a more fair and equitable society.

Colin Kaepernick and Richard Spencer represent ideal subjects of this study because the goals of both Black Lives Matter and the Alt-right center on shifting the ways in which members of society conceive of reality and construct beliefs about race and its effect on the social order. Kelly writes that “When self-proclaimed alt-right spokesmen such as Jared Swift claim that ‘we’ve pushed the Overton Window. People have adopted our rhetoric, sometimes without even realizing it’, an initial response may well be to take them at their word” (2017:69). Here Kelly is explicitly recognizing that in

6 many ways the goal of the Alt-right is to complete redefine the playing field on which political debates take place in society. The Alt-right looks to accomplish this through the utilization of very specific framings and premises as they advocate for their ideas.

Black Lives Matter as a movement has not employed entirely different tactics.

While BLM has risen to prominence primarily in relation and response to police violence enacted against Black bodies, many of the goals and tactics of BLM as a movement center around changing the ways in which societal problems are framed altogether.

Members of Black Lives Matter want to push people to conceive individual occurrences of violence against Black and Brown people as part of larger structures of domination and subordination (Hill 2016; Taylor 2016). Be it chants such as “Whose streets? Our streets!

(Lowery 2016) or disruption tactics such as “Black Brunch”, a great deal of the energy exerted by Black Lives Matter is dedicated to redefining how people within and outside of the movement conceive racism and oppression in day-to-day life (Taylor 2016). Both the Alt-right and Black Lives Matter seek to change how people understand issues of race and privilege in the country, they are simply attempting to push the narratives in completely opposite directions. If Richard Spencer and the Alt-right are treated with more or similar levels of respect and legitimacy as Colin Kaepernick and other pro-Black thinkers, then this would be reflective of a continually existing chasm regarding what types of sentiments will and won’t rule certain ideologies illegitimate.

I hope that this work will provide insights into the ways in which culture, identity, and ideology affect the framings of individuals and movements. Everyday more thinkers are becoming privy to the reality that social media spaces exist as a largely untapped and

7 unexamined source of cultural knowledge, my work looks to continue to add to this ever- evolving knowledge base. If this analysis reveals that people who advocate for a more equitable society are treated more harshly than White Supremacists, then a larger reconsideration of the role and nature of hegemony in present society is in order. On the other hand, it is also possible that incongruence between how some individuals view the goals of Black Lives Matter and how they perceive the goals of the Alt-right can be traced to factors outside of media framings and portrayals. This work will begin to illustrate the ways in which the prominent themes found within framings of the examined movements and figures reflect and/or challenge common understandings found in academic and popular spaces.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Framing and social media

Several studies have examined the ways in which social movements, political figures, and significant moments are framed via social media. From a big picture perspective Jonathan Cox (2016) has laid out a convincing argument as to why social media should be treated seriously as a source of information. Bode (2015) found that social media creates significant opportunity for people to learn in the political context.

This study found that “Further, learning—or at least short-term recall offering the potential for learning—seems to occur more easily for political information than nonpolitical information within the realm of social media...” (Bode 2015: 42). A key takeaway from this study was that social media users were not any more likely to be politically informed than non-users (Bode 2015). Brock (2012) specifically considered the role which Twitter plays in negotiating an understanding of the world and embedded inequalities within society specifically for Black users. Freelon et. al (2018) recently produced a study which looked to examine the ways in which the Twitter subcultures of

“Black Twitter”, “Feminist Twitter”, and “Asian-American” twitter interacted with and influenced journalists and their coverage. Williams (2015) examines the ways which

Black feminists specifically use Twitter hashtags to combat forces of misogyny. In a study positioned at the intersection of sports and culture Billings et. al (2015) considered tweets amongst a variety of types of data in a study examining framings of Jason Collins, the first openly gay active male athlete in American team-sports.

Identity politics

Scholars and thinkers generally define “identity politics” as political activities or mobilization based on collective experiences and culture (Bliss 2013; Bernstein 2005).

Most often the term has been used in reference to tactics employed by members of marginalized communities to advance political agendas (Kruks 1995; Marotta 2011). The term has usually been used to describe LGBTQ movements, separatist movements, feminist movements, and civil rights movements (Bernstein 2005). One defining characteristic of these type of movements is the recognition of “the personal as political”, which can potentially make participation in these types of movements dangerous for already marginalized members (Walker and Stepick 2014). Bliss (2013) locates identify politics as a concept and practice having stemmed from Black civil rights movements and proposes that in order for identity politics to be effective, a shared sense of groupness is needed. Members of identity movements may craft ‘identities for critique’ which are meant to confront the values, practices, and categories of the dominant culture. In contrast ‘Identity for empowerment’ refers to the creation of collective identity related to a movement, and the feeling that political action is feasible. (Bernstein and Olsen 2009).

Identity politics and identity movements have been heavily criticized within both scholarly and popular realms. Within the academic sphere Pritchett (2005) proposes that the term identity politics has become so convoluted and overused that the term has effectively lost all of its meaning and utility. Some thinkers have advanced the notion that by organizing based on areas and instances of perceived or actual differences amongst people, identity politics can actually make it more difficult for these often-homogenous groups to build coalitions and to find common ground with dissimilar people. Kruks,

10 focusing her criticism primarily on identity politics as a strategy within feminism, writes

“Identity politics tend toward an excessive particularization and partitioning of knowledge, but now along the lines of race or ethnicity, for example, as well as gender.”

(1995:4). Kruks fears that “Identity politics, as an epistemological position, thus threatens to leave us without the possibility of having the kind of common knowledge, or forming the kind of collective judgments, necessary for the development of broadly organized, feminist politics such as its adherents often advocate” (1995:4). Kruks pays particular attention to the ways in which identity politics may potentially affect the ability of feminists to find intellectual common ground, but this is a concern which has been replicated across a number of disciplines. Jean Belkhir (2001) has offered a Marxist critique of identity politics as roadblocks on the path towards conceptions of the political which privileges class-based analysis and Alexander (1999) theorizes on the ways in which identity organizing has served to fragment pro-LGBTQ groups.

Popular critiques of identity organizing may very well be more impactful than those which originate within academia. In the wake of the most recent United States presidential election Bernie Sanders advocated “go[ing] beyond identity politics,” and stated that “The working class of this country is being decimated — that’s why Donald

Trump won. And what we need now are candidates who stand with those working people, who understand that real median family income has gone down.” (Arceneaux

2016). Senator Sanders too conceives of identity politics as a mechanism for division and fragmentation. Another of the most vocal and prominent critics of identity politics from the left has been New York Times columnist Mark Lilla. In an attempt to consider how

11 the American left should move forward in the wake of Donald Trump’s election Lilla writes “the standard liberal answer for nearly a generation now has been that we should become aware of and “celebrate” our differences. Which is a splendid principle of moral pedagogy — but disastrous as a foundation for democratic politics in our ideological age”

(2016). Here Lilla echoes notions that identity movements are inherently fragmented by nature, and therefore predestined to fail. Lilla proposes that media personalities and academics who fixate on issues of diversity and identity are doing a disservice to the public, writing:

Affirmative action for women and minorities at America’s newspapers and

broadcasters has been an extraordinary social achievement — and has even

changed, quite literally, the face of right-wing media, as journalists like Megyn

Kelly and Laura Ingraham have gained prominence. But it also appears to have

encouraged the assumption, especially among younger journalists and editors, that

simply by focusing on identity they have done their jobs (2016).

The ideas by Lilla in the New York Times and his book are neither revolutionary or new.

Four years earlier Ross Douthat (2012) was proclaiming in the same New York Times that the Democratic party’s desire to support inclusion and equal rights had rendered it incapable of reaching the “plain old white insurance salesman”. While all of the aforementioned conceptions and criticisms of identity politics as a concept do hold merit, a great majority of them divorce the term from its actual origins. Coates (2017) summarizes this strand of argument wel;, writing “The collective verdict holds that the

Democratic Party lost its way when it abandoned everyday economic issues like job creation for the softer fare of social justice”.

Smith (2017), Norman (2007) and Collins and Blige (2016) all point out that a great majority of modern critics of identity politics are unaware of the term’s genesis in relation to the Combahee River Collective. The Combahee River Collective was comprised of many prominent Black feminists, many of whom identified as queer. The term “identity politics” first appeared in a document produced by the collective entitled

“A Black Feminist Statement”. In this statement, the women write

We realize that the only people who care enough about us to work consistently for

our liberation is us. Our politics evolve from a healthy love for ourselves, our

sisters, and our community, which allows us to continue our struggle and work.

This focusing upon our own oppression is embodied in the concept of identity

politics. We believe that the most profound and potentially the most radical

politics come directly out of our own identity, as opposed to working to end

somebody else’s oppression (273).

This quote illustrates that the concept of “identity politics” did not evolve from a general desire to privilege one’s own social location as inherently superior, but rather from the unique recognition from a collective of queer Black women that their existence as subjects of oppression on multiple interlocking axis of privilege was unique. Smith explains “The original intent of identity politics was articulating black women’s struggle at the nexus of race, gender, sexual, and class oppressions, and then forming strategies for

13 dismantling each of these, both in black feminist spaces and in coalition with other groups” (2017).

Several academic and popular writers have attempted to push back against attacks on identity politics as an effective organizing technique. It could be argued that it is the inability of many thinkers to decenter themselves in their political understandings that perpetuate the continued misinterpretation of the origins and intent of identity politics. A well-thought out rebuttal to critiques of separatist notions amongst those who practice identity politics can easily be found within the foundational “A Black Feminist

Statement”:

Although we are feminists and lesbians, we feel solidarity with progressive black

men and do not advocate the fractionalization that white women who are

separatists demand. Our situation as black people necessitates that we have

solidarity around the fact of race, which white women of course do not need to

have with white men, unless it is their negative solidarity as racial oppressors. We

struggle together with black men against racism, while we also struggle with

black men about sexism" (Combahee River Collective 1977: 274).

In what could be utilized as a strong retort to Kruks’ feminist critique of identity organizing, Norman builds on the original ideas found in “A Black Feminist Statement” writing “Rather than resulting in rigid balkanization, identity politics allowed readers to reunderstand feminism(s) with the concerns of black women at the center." (2007:109).

So, while it is popular for critics of identity movements to pontificate about the ways in which identity movements embed their members with separatist ideals, the thinkers who

14 actually formulated the strategy consciously viewed the approach as a way to form deliberate partnerships with other members of society towards the goal of dismantling existing systems of dominance and power. In much the same way Norman uses the text of “A Black Feminist Statement” to respond to critics who would misconstrue the intent of identity movements as originally conceived by the Combahee River Collective,

Mychal Smith offers a similar retort to the likes of Mark Lilla and other critics of identity politics within the current political moment. Smith writes (2017) “Lilla spends very little time engaging the collective’s meaning of the term, instead devoting his energy to his own interpretation of identity politics. The one time he does mention their work he is dismissive.” When Lilla and other pundits offers critique of identity organizing which do not actually reflect the principles and beliefs of the people within the very movements which they mean to critique, we as a society are being subjected to the very type of hegemonic framing of which this project looks to deconstruct.

There are actually numerous examples of “identity movements” which look to organize based on principles of unity and the analysis of interlocking oppressions. For decades, activists such as Fannie Lou Hamer have spearheaded Black liberation movements that have refused to separate notions of “African-American issues” from notions of “women’s issues” (Collins 2006). This coincides with a long history of Black women thinkers who have challenged ideological false-dichotomies in order to formulate innovative liberation solutions. Within the last few years we can observe examples of

“identity groups” forming coalitions to organize based on an intersectional understanding of liberation. Some of these examples include individuals associated with Black Lives

Matter recently joining indigenous groups in protest at Standing Rock (Jegroo 2016) and the recent Moral Movement in North Carolina within which a variety of political forces in North Carolina came together under an array of different identity-based umbrellas to elect a new Democratic governor (Newkirk 2016).

Burnham (2017) calls for thinkers and organizers on the left to reject reductionist

critiques of identity politics as an organizing approach. Burnham writes:

The term ‘identity politics’ is part of a whole vocabulary including ‘thought

police,’ ‘politically correct,’ and ‘liberal elites’, whose main intention is to

undermine the legitimacy of liberal and left politics. Uncritically adopting the

“identity politics” language of the right is the equivalent of dropping our guard

and waltzing on to their terrain. Master’s tools, master’s house, anyone? (2017).

According to Burnham the concerted addressing of issues which affect members of certain identity groups, e.g. the problem of police violence against Black and Brown bodies or the thoughtful consideration of the privacy and inclusion of individuals who identify as transsexual, actually contributes to the larger well-being and freedom of society as a whole.

It is difficult to consider the conversations and criticisms surrounding the concept of identity politics without also examining the connections and similarities to conversations presently taking place concerning the notion of “free speech” within society. Many of the same conservative voices who decry the perceived proliferation of identity politics in the current political moment cite examples such as college campuses as evidence that liberalism is encroaching on the right to free speech in America in order

16 to preserve the feelings of the overly sensitive (Glaude Jr. 2017). Conservatives point to the no-platforming of controversial speakers such as Richard Spencer and Ann Coulter on college campuses as evidence that free speech is under attack, primarily from “the left”

(McLaughlin 2017). These arguments have been bolstered by events such as the ACLU, through a public letter by their National Policy Director David Cole, identifying the protection of the speech of racially inflammatory groups such as the Alt-right as a necessity towards the preservation of free speech in general (Pearce, Barabak, and

Finnegan 2017; Cole 2017). While reasonable on a conceptual level, this course of action has drawn criticism from both outside of and within the ACLU (Pearce, Barabak, and

Finnegan 2017). Writers such as Strauss (2017) and Foley (2018) have pointed out the clear logical inconsistencies in figures such as Attorney General Jeff Sessions on one hand lambasting protesting NFL players for enacting their 1st amendment rights, while simultaneously attacking college campuses as spaces where political correctness is infringing on liberty.

Colin Kaepernick

Colin Kaepernick has risen to prominence as an important and divisive symbol within the age of Black Lives Matter. Colin Kaepernick is a former quarterback in the

National Football League who started for the San Francisco 49ers for several years, taking the team to one Super Bowl. Kaepernick first began his protest during a preseason game on August 26th, 2016. Initially Kaepernick was sitting during the playing of the national anthem, but after consulting with former Green Beret and NFL player Nate

Boyer he decided to begin to take a knee during the anthem in order to both continue his

17 protest, and show respect for fallen veterans (Gass 2016; Stites 2017). Throughout the season he would be joined by numerous other NFL players from across the league

(Munshi 2017; Stites 2017). At the end of the 2016-2017 season Kaepernick became a free agent in the league and remains unsigned to this day (Frank 2017).

Kaepernick does not have explicit ties with “official” appendages of the Black

Lives Matter movement. Part of the desire to superimpose Kaepernick as a face and figurehead for Black Lives Matter as a larger movement may be related to his being a cis- hetero male in a heteronormative patriarchy. As Taylor (2016) points out, the most prominent and active members of Black Lives Matter are disproportionately women and queer. For people who understand social movements as needing to be led by male figureheads, Kaepernick exists as an easily understood symbol. Kaepernick’s actions have gone a long way towards endearing himself to individuals who would already be predisposed to supporting him; since the time he began his protest, Kaepernick has donated almost a million dollars to causes such as Mothers Against Police Brutality and

Meals on Wheels (Rapaport and Rosenberg 2017). In light of all of this work Kaepernick was recently named GQ Magazine’s “Citizen of the Year” (Marcin 2017). He also received the Muhammad Ali Legacy Award and was recently recognized with Amnesty

International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award (France 2017; The Associated Press

2018). It is important to note that Kaepernick and his activism exist within a long line of athletes turned activists including but not limited to Muhammad Ali, John Carols, and

Tommie Smith (Gass 2016).

There has been a great deal of debate from within and outside of sports circles as to whether or not the reason that Kaepernick has remained unemployed as an NFL quarterback since the 2016 – 2017 season was because of his choice to protest. Present and former players such as Aaron Rodgers, Robert Griffin III, and Michael Bennett have all expressed the view that Kaepernick should be playing in the NFL (Stites 2017;

Lingebeach 2017; Bieler 2017). More recently Johnny Manziel became one of the most prominent White athletes to lend his support to Kaepernick. The former college football star, who also presently finds himself out of the NFL, complained in April of 2018 that he was growing tired of comparisons between himself and Kaepernick. Manziel, who is out of the league primarily due to substance abuse issues, offered a positive evaluation of

Kaepernick’s potential to be successful moving forward in the NFL and went on to proclaim, “This world we live in is absolutely crazy and I believe what he's doing has an amazing impact” (Daniels 2018; Schwartz 2018).

With this being said, not all of the perspectives on Kaepernick and his situation provided by former and current athletes have been supportive. A fellow former Black

NFL quarterback, Michael Vick, speculated in July of 2017 that the reason Kaepernick had not yet been signed by another NFL team was not related to his choice to protest. He went on to suggest that if Kaepernick wanted to get back into the NFL that he should could cut his hair. Vick would later go on to walk back these statements (Wilson 2017).

While Kaepernick was still in the league and protesting, Mike Ditka, a former hall of fame player and coach, offered what remains to this day one of the strongest public rebukes of Kaepernick on record. Ditka would proclaim that he “had no respect” for

Colin Kaepernick and that Kaepernick should leave the country if he didn’t like the flag

(Espn.com News Services 2016). Soon after being released from jail, the infamous O.J.

Simpson gave an interview during which he described Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem “a bad choice” (Gartland 2018). Another NFL all-time great, and prominent civil rights activist, Jim Brown, also offer his perspective that Kaepernick would not be able to both continue his activism and resume his football career. Brown would state that “Colin has to make up his mind, whether he's truly an activist or whether he's a football player," (Wagner-McGough 2017).

The reaction to Colin Kaepernick and his protest from outside of the world of sports has been even more mixed. A 2016 public opinion poll conducted by Reuters showed that 72% of respondents viewed Kaepernick’s behavior as unpatriotic at the time.

This same poll found that 61% of respondents did not support Kaepernick’s stance.

Another poll conducted by Survey Monkey in September 2016 found that 44% of respondents reported that they were “not supportive at all of Kaepernick’s protest”

(Breech 2016). A more recent poll yielded similar results with 46% of respondents in a

September 2017 Yahoo Sports survey opposing Kaepernick’s stance (Busbee 2017).

Perhaps the most prominent and important case of opposition to Kaepernick are the

September 23rd 2017 remarks made about Kaepernick and other protesting NFL players by Donald Trump. At a political rally in Alabama Trump exclaimed “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he’s fired!’ You know, some owner is going to do that.” (Stites 2017).

As it presently stands Kaepernick is pursuing a legal case against the NFL claiming collusion amongst the NFL owners to keep him out of the league. Recently leaked tapes from an emergency meeting with NFL owners, league management, and player representatives have revealed that there is a direct connection between criticism from sources such as President Trump and the reluctance of NFL teams to bring

Kaepernick back into the fold (McCain 2018). As recently as April 2018 Kaepernick had been scheduled to have an exploratory workout with perennial NFL powerhouse Seattle

Seahawks. The workout was originally scheduled without any discussion between

Kaepernick and the team about potential protest in the future. This workout was subsequently cancelled after Kaepernick refused to commit to not protesting in the future.

(Middlehurst-Schwartz and Perez 2018). After these events, current defensive end for the

Philadelphia Eagles Chris Long expressed through tweets his opinion that this turn of events all but confirmed that Kaepernick is being blackballed from the league (Rosenblatt

2018). The speculation that NFL players who have chosen to protest are being punished does not center soley on Kaepernick. Kaepernick’s former teammate and the first player to join Kaepernick in taking a knee, Eric Reid, is a high-level corner who remains unsigned in the current free agent period. Many analysts point directly to Reid’s affiliation with Kaepernick as the reason he has remained unsigned, and as a turn of events that could strengthen Kaepernick’s collusion claim (Reid 2018). Another outspoken NFL player, Michael Bennett, was recently charged with causing injury to the elderly for allegedly assaulting an elderly paraplegic worker on the sidelines at

Superbowl LI in February 2017. Many outside observers have questioned the validity of these charges (Breech 2018).

Black Lives Matter

Many of the local pro-Black organizations which have formed and developed over the last few years have done so in direct response to instances of violence against

Black bodies. The Dream Defenders formed in direct response to the acquittal of George

Zimmerman for the murder of Trayavon Martin (Lowery 2016; Taylor 2016). For many youth, the Trayvon Martin case served as indoctrination into the history of unequal outcomes in the United States. As Taylor (2016) writes “The murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in the winter of 2012 was a turning point” (147). Several thinkers have drawn historical parallels between the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and murder of Emmett Till as crucial turning points in the development of anti-racist organizing (Hill 2016; Taylor 2016). The Dream Defenders group works towards the aim of Black liberation on a number of fronts, an excerpt from their website reads “We believe that our liberation necessitates the destruction of the political and economic systems of Capitalism and Imperialism as well as Patriarchy” (dreamdefenders.org). The

Chicago-based group Black Youth Project 100 (BYP 100) is another example of a group which organized in direct response to the larger message embedded within the acquittal of George Zimmerman (Taylor 2016; Lowery 2016).

The death and subsequent protests following the death of Michael Brown in

Ferguson Missouri on August 9th, 2014 has been pinpointed by many scholars and journalists as a sort of gestation point for the modern Black Lives Matter movement

(Lowery 2016; Hill 2016; Taylor 2016). Most scholars who study Black Lives Matter conclude that the substantial and passionate response by the citizens of Ferguson was partially related to the initial killing committed by Darren Wilson, but also partly fueled by the reactions of law enforcement to the community as it sought out answers. Lowery writes “While many residents of Ferguson had been deeply outraged by the violence and looting of the previous night, what upset them even more was the nightly militarized responses of law enforcement” (2016: 57). The series of events which played out in the city of Ferguson drew critiques of not only law enforcement, but elected officials, and the media industry as well. After the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson all of these institutions were being critiqued and confronted for anti-Black racism on a level not seen for over a generation (Hill 2016; Taylor 2016). A convergence of shifting social expectations, new technologies, and raw anger served to make Ferguson ground zero for a monumental turn in the way society conceives and discusses issues of racial injustice.

Of Michael Brown’s death Hill writes “this is why the death of Michael Brown is not merely a throwback to a wounded racial past but also a thoroughly modern event. It is not only the repeat of an age-old racial divide but also a statement of a relatively new public chasm that has been growing for years” (2016:29).

Black Lives Matter may very well represent the most visible example of a recent intersectional Black liberation movement. Whether one is discussing the official “Black

Lives Matter Network” or BLM as a larger social movement, it must be acknowledged that the diversity of strategies employed and intersectional nature of its organizing are aspects of BLM which have pushed it past the fringes and into the consciousness of

23 mainstream society. The official Black Lives Matter Network was founded by three queer

Black women: Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, and Patrisse Cullors (Taylor 2016; Hill 2016;

Garza 2016) The official BLM Network website lists a wide array of core principles such as “diversity”, “unapologetically Black expressions”, “queer affirming ideology”, and

“loving engagement” (Garza, Tometi, and Cullors). It is partially through this expanded conception of what it means to work towards Black liberation that Black Lives Matter has had such an immense effect on society. Taylor plainly states “… the face of the Black

Lives Matter Movement is largely queer and female” (2016: 165). So, while these demographics may result in increased levels of opposition to Black Lives Matter from certain segments of society, it is of little surprise that subsequent organizing in relation to the Black Lives Matter Movement has proven more willing to center an intersectional understanding of oppression and liberation work. The work of Taylor (2016) and others points out that although these events don’t tend to get the same levels of mainstream coverage and discussion, Black Lives Matter has brought attention to Black women who have been killed at the hands of police such as Sandra Bland and Rekia Boyd.

While only one factor in evaluating the effects of a movement on society, opinion polling can provide valuable insights into how large swaths of people perceive and feel about certain issues and ideas. A poll of millennials conducted in October 2016 found that 58% of respondents had a favorable view of the movement. However, recent polling indicates that factors such as Trump’s presidency and the relatively conservative makeup of the voting electorate still makes it difficult to gauge how the masses feel as related to

Black Lives Matter, with a recent Harvard-Harris survey of potential voters finding that

57% of respondents had a negative perception of Black Lives Matter. In this poll 35% of

White respondents had a positive view of Black Lives Matter as compared to 83% of

Black voters who held favorable views (Easley 2017). With this being said, Massie

(2016) points out that present levels of support are almost identical to views of the Civil

Rights Movement held by Americans in the 1960’s.

Alicia Garza, one of the three founding members of the Black Lives Matter

Network, has described Black Lives Matter’s ideology as “an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systemically and intentionally targeted for demise (Garza 2016). While the point of entry for most people into conversations pertaining to Black Lives Matter is in fact police brutality, members of Black Lives

Matter have formed platforms and organizations based on broad critiques of anti-Black racism as being embedded throughout all facets of society. The official platform for The

Movement for Black Lives comes out against White Supremacy, but it also names hegemonic forces such as exploitative capitalism, militarism, and patriarchy as direct enemies of the movement (Garza, Tometi, and Cullors).

It is important not to conflate the official Black Lives Matter Network with the larger Movement for Black Lives which has risen to prominence over the last few years in both the United States and globally. The last few years have seen an up-swell in smaller, more localized movements devoted to the liberation of Black and Brown people such as the Dream Defenders and BYP 100. These organizations have often formed in direct response to police killings or other manifestations of institutionalized racism

(Taylor 2016; Hill 2016; Garza 2016). Lowery (2016) has detailed how “Organization for

Black Struggle and MORE”, and “Hands Up United” are examples of two organizations were formed in the aftermath of the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

A defining characteristic of Black Lives Matter as a movement has been an explicit commitment to formulating new avenues towards Black liberation and equal treatment within society. This desire to tread new ground has at times created friction between younger activists and the established “old guard” compiled of prominent Black figureheads (False 2014; Lowery 2016; Taylor 2016). One aspect of Black Lives Matter which has set it apart from other pro-Black movements has been its overt and blatant rejection of respectability politics (Taylor 2016; Lowery 2016). This stance has deterred some members of society from issuing support from the movement but it has also endeared Black Lives Matter to certain segments of society.

Hill (2016) and Taylor (2016) devote a good amount of time to discussion about the ways in which the presidency of Barack Obama helped to prime society for such a radical pro-Black movement to gestate. A good amount of research has deconstructed the ways in which the election of Barack Obama stoked racial resentment amongst some

White Americans (Knowles, Lowery, Shulman, and Schaumberg 2013). Meanwhile minds such as Taylor (2016) have considered how a continued lack of perceived equity for Black Americans under the first Black President served to push many people into action. She writes “His unwillingness to address the effects of structural inequality eroded younger African Americans’ confidence in the transformative capacity of his presidency” (Taylor 2016:143). Marc Lamont Hil (2016) echoes this same sentiment as he discusses the role which some Black people perceiving Barack Obama as not “doing

26 enough” to bring about racial equality in the country played in the formation of Black

Lives Matter as a movement.

A recent series of events which illustrate some of the ways in which Black Lives

Matter and its effects can be viewed through the prism of sports are the killing of Stephon

Clark by police officers in Sacramento, California, and the subsequent protests which occurred as a result of this event. On the night of March 18th 2018 Stephon Clark was shot and killed by two police officers in his grandmother’s backyard in South

Sacramento. Officer accounts would initially suggest that Clark was armed with a gun, which was later revealed to have an actually been a cellphone (Walker 2018). The questionable circumstances surrounding Clark’s killing and the police’s handling of the events resulted in widespread protests across the city of Sacramento. On the night of

March 22nd protesters blocked entrances to the Sacramento Kings game at the Golden 1

Center in downtown Sacramento, in an attempt to bring attention to Clark’s case and the resulting outrage. The start of the game against the Atlanta Hawks was delayed by about twenty minutes and only around 2000 fans were able to get into the arena before the team and its staff decided to stop allowing entry out of cited safety concerns (Walker 2018;

Jones 2018). Several current and former Sacramento sports entities would wind up lending their support to the cause. Former Kings star Demarcus Cousin offered to pay for

Stephon Clark’s funeral expenses (Jones 2018), former King and Sacramento area preps star Matt Barnes has attended several marches and events related to Clark’s cause

(Bontemps 2018), and most notably the Sacramento Kings organization has partnered with the local ‘Build Black’ coalition in an effort to invest in Black communities and

Black youth in the Sacramento area. One of the first courses of action taken by this coalition was to establish a college fund for the children of Stephon Clark (Comstock

2018).

The Alt-right

The term “Alt-right” refers to a broad movement and ideology based in pro-White sentiments and the self-evidence of the importance of race, and in opposition to globalist economic policies, multiculturalism, and White Nationalism (Ehrett 2017; Michael 2017;

Driscoll 2017). Due to the generally decentralized and ostracized nature of the Alt-right there are presently a variety of explanations and definitions pertaining to the Alt-right.

Kelly (2017) writes that “The alt-right is not really a social or political movement in the traditional sense: it is, rather, a network of smallish digital social hubs whose ideological position can be understood as the natural conclusion of neo-conservative logics surrounding liberalism, manhood and national security.” (69). Nagle associates the Alt- right with an intense preoccupation with issues such as anti-egalitarianism and European demographic and civilizational decline (2017:12). “Mike Enoch, from the site the Right

Stuff, a major hub for the dissemination of alt-right materials, says: ‘The core principle, in my view, is ethno-nationalism, meaning that nations should be as ethnically and racially homogeneous as possible.” (Wilson 2016). Some of the key figures associated with the Alt-right movement are Richard Spencer, Steve Bannon, Willis Carto, Jared

Taylor, and Milo Yiannopoulos (Gray 2015; Nagle 2017; Driscoll 2017; Michael 2017;

Butler 2017). Interestingly there are few, if any women cited as prominent figures within the Alt-right movement. The Alt-right as a whole tends to be less interested in traditional

28 conceptions of politics and more concerned with metapolitics, their ability to influence how people view and perceive the world (Brien 2016).

The rise of the Alt-right as a collective can be traced largely to online spaces such as 4chan, 8chan, and Reddit (Matthews 2016; Nagle 2017; Heikkilä 2017). As Brien

(2016) explains “Most alt-righters are digital natives, and they have weaponized social media”. Matthews (2016) notes that not just Trump, but many more mainstream figures with White Nationalist views are pulling their content and talking points from forums such as 4chan.

Many thinkers who have covered the rise of the Alt-right have pinpointed

“Gamergate” as a pivotal moment in the rise of the Alt-right (Matthews 2016; Nagle

2017; Lees 2016). Within this organized pushback against misogyny and racism in videogames, many of the anti-PC, intentionally offensive tactics which the Alt-right have become famous for were first perfected. The Alt-right has become infamous for a fascination with an affinity for ideas such as neoreaction movement, which rejects the principles of democracy and favor more authoritarian governing practices. The rejection of concepts such as democracy and egalitarianism allows members of the Alt-right to position themselves against many liberal calls for inclusion and equity within different facets of society (Gray 2015; Matthews 2016).

While there is an urge from some observers to paint the Alt-right as an unprecedented social phenomenon, several thinkers from within and outside of academia have pointed to historical predecessors of whom help to explain the existence of the Alt- right as a movement. One example of such a movement is the John Birch Society (Lipset

29 and Rabb 1980; Toy 2004; Heikkilä 2017; Matthews 2016). The John Birch Society was created in 1958 by Robert Welch. Not unlike other conservative groups, the society was built on principles of local government control and individualism (Lipset and Rabb

1980). A key pillar of the organization’s belief system was an intense promotion of anti- communist conspiracy theories (Lipset and Rabb 1980; Toy 2004). Members of the John

Birch Society were strong advocates for isolationist foreign policy and promoted nativist conceptions of global affairs. The Birch Society and its ideas can be linked to groups such as “The Know-Nothing Society” (Lipset and Rabb 1980). Like the modern Alt- right, members of the Birch society were known to traffic in anti-immigrant and anti-

Black sentiments (Heikkilä 2017).

A more immediate historical predecessor of the Alt-right is the Tea Party. The

Tea Party is described as being “explained through the combination of three factors,

Grass-root activism by conservative-minded individuals, the panoply of national-funders and free-market advocacy groups in a post-Citizen’s United climate, and mobilization sparked by conservative media hosts and cable news pundits (Williamson, Scopal, and

Coggin 2012:12 - 13). The Tea Party’s origins can be traced back to 2009 and the election of President Barack Obama has been pinpointed as the genesis for the formation of the movement (Knowles, Lowery, Shulman, and Schaumberg 2013). A vital event during Tea Party’s infancy was Rick Santorum’s February 2009 comments in congress in which he passionately critiqued President Obama’s nascent foreclosure relief plan exclaiming “The government is rewarding bad behavior!” and invited “America’s

‘capitalists’ to a ‘Chicago Tea Party’ to protest measures to ‘subsidize losers’ mortgages”

(Williamson et al. 2012). It can be argued that this speech helped set the tone for the manner in which the Tea Party would critique and look to discredit Obama and the

American left during its rise to prominence. Some key tenants of Tea Party ideology, as described by self-identified members are the importance of constitutional values

(Knowles et al. 2013; Rosen 2012; Skocpol and Williamson 2012), the perception that a war on religion is being waged by the federal government (Russell Hochschild 2016), and perceived the need for fiscal reform related to issues concerning taxes and “government handouts” (Burke 2016; Russell Hochschild 2016; Knowles et al. 2013).

Tea Party membership has been estimated to be 91.4 percent White, 85 percent Christian, and most members of the Tea Party self-identify as Conservative Republicans (Maxwell and Parent 2012; Williamson et al. 2012). Some measures estimate that as many as 20 percent, or 45 million Americans support the Tea Party in some form or another

(Hochschild 2016). It has also been found in some studies that most self-identified Tea

Partiers are in fact college-educated (Skocpol and Williamson 2012). Several additional historical comparisons to the Alt-right have been made with movements such as the second wave of the KKK (Braine 2017) and the most conservative forces behind politicians such as Pat Buchanan in the 1980’s and 1990’s (Joffe 2017; Heikkilä 2017).

Gray (2015) interviewed Richard Spencer about the core of the Alt-right’s ideology, writing “Spencer believes the alt right is “deeply connected” with his work. ‘I would say that what I’m doing is we’re really trying to build a philosophy, an ideology around identity, European identity,’ he said, ‘and I would say that the alt right is a kind of the take-no-prisoners Twitter troopers of that.” In 2011 Spencer developed the de facto

31 catchphrase for the Alt-right, “Race is real, race matters, and race is essential to identity”

(Brien 2016). Much of the Alt-right’s ideology rises from the mental conception of “red- pilling”. Brien (2016) writes that “The horrifying truth the red pill supposedly reveals is that we inhabit a country in the throes of a “white genocide” driven by immigration policies”. Ideas that people of White identity are under attack, often seeped in anti-

Semitic and anti-Black sentiments, are cornerstones of the Alt-right ideology (Wilson

2016; Nagle 2017).

One of the most referenced motivating factors for members of the Alt-right, as observed by researchers and named by its members, are anti-immigrant concerns and notions (Heikkilä 2017; Nagle 2017). Many members of the Alt-right express concerns about globalism and its eroding on their ability to live their lives (Gray 2015). According to Heikkilä When Trump attacked immigration and political correctness, these views were then echoed and amplified on 4chan and similar online sites, solidifying his growing online support base. In accordance with meme and troll culture, one user described

Trump as “meme-able” and “entertaining…” (2017).

Concerns expressed in the form of anti-immigrant sentiments among members of the Alt-right can be closely tied to worries over a perceived national decline. Many members of the Alt-right manifest these concerns via arguments regulated to the issue of national security (Kelly 2017). This strain of thought ties a perceived decline in wealth, health, and status of the country to an ever-increasing immigrant class who are corrupting

American values (Nagle 2017). Richard Spencer coined the phrase identitarianism to describe his belief system. According to Spencer identitarianism is “fundamentally

32 about difference, about culture as an expression of a certain people at a certain time.”

(Heikkilä 2017). Besides Richard Spencer, this term has been used as a self-label by prominent members of the Alt-right such as Nathan Damigo and Jared Taylor (SPLC

Intelligence Report; Gray 2015).

Brien (2016) observes that “Alt-righters are mostly young white men who are angry about income inequality, poor job prospects, PC culture, crumbling social welfare programs and war.”. The effects of this specific demography can be observed through phenomena such as the incredible popularity of the insult “cuck” or “cuckold” amongst members of the Alt-right. Cuck is a slur used to refer to members of the right who Alt- righters view as weak or”sellouts”. The term also has origins within the pornography industry where it holds racial implications (Brien 2016). In the words of Richard Spencer

“The 'cuck' slur is vulgar, yes, but then piercingly accurate. It is the cuckold who, whether knowingly or unknowingly, loses control of his future. This is an apt psychological portrait of white 'conservatives,' whose only identity is comprised of vague, abstract 'values,' and who are participating in the displacement of European

Americans — their own children.” (Weigel 2015). Heikkilä (2017) explains that “The

‘cuckservative’ narrative represented the anti-establishment mood embodied by the Alt- right. It intertwined subcultural jargon and ideas of masculinity and race, all elemental for the controversies that led the Alt-right to be widely recognized and discussed.” The prevalence of insults such as cuck are reflective of larger themes of patriarchy and heteronormativity which permeate the Alt-right’s ideology. Richard Spencer may have best summed up the viewpoint of the Alt-right when at Texas A & M’s campus he

33 proclaimed “America, at the end of the day, belongs to white men. … Our bones are in the ground. We own it. At the end of the day, America can’t exist without us. We defined it” (SPLC Intelligence Report).

A common strand throughout the literature related to the Alt-right is the idea that it as a movement has become emboldened and galvanized through the election of, and a close association with Donald Trump. Michael writes “To some observers, Bannon’s appointment as Trump’s chief strategist confirmed their fears that the far-right fringe has penetrated the White House” (2017:43). The infamous meme which Trump retweeted in

2015 which claimed that 81% of White homicide victims are killed by Black people originated in Alt-right media spaces (Driscoll 2017). Brien observed that “Some of the most controversial social media moments of the Trump campaign have a provenance that can be traced directly back to hardcore racists like Anglin.” (2016). In 2016 Matthews observed that “r/The_Donald — the alt-right dominated home of Trump supporters on

Reddit — racked up 52 million pageviews in March, way more than the 35 million at r/SandersForPresident. “. Moments like this and the Trump family’s embrace of the Pepe meme as an unofficial mascot for the campaign have endured Trump to the Alt-right community even if he has yet to mention them by name (Heikkilä 2017). For many supporters the rise and eventual of Trump represents a victory even if he never explicitly associates himself with the movement. Brien (2016) explains that “They’d been laboring for years to widen the Overton window—a term for the range of acceptable political discussion—and now Trump had put his fist through the damn thing. “Trump has opened

34 up space for a new kind of discourse,” Spencer told me. “He’s opened up space for talking about nationalism.”

The relationship between Trump and the Alt-right has been mutually beneficial.

“With an assist from the Trump campaign, the Alt-right’s fusion of musty racist dogma and millennial troll power has given it a political influence far beyond that of tobacco- stained Klansmen and swastika-bedecked skinheads.” (Brien 2016). Video of a room of more than 300 people at a meeting for the National Policy Institute hosted by Richard

Spencer went viral in 2016 as the attendees chanted ‘Hail Trump’ and gave Nazi salutes

(Nagle 2017; Michael 2017). Richard Spencer has been quoted as saying “I don’t think that Donald Trump set out to inspire the alt-right, but we’ve been thrown into the same boat by our shared enemies, so he’s become an alt-right god,” Spencer told me. “If you wear a Trump hat in many places, you might as well be wearing a swastika.” (Brien

2016).

In many ways the Alt-right is finding incredible success in their goal of infiltrating and shifting the nature of mainstream conversations. Brien (2016) supports this premise writing “The alt-right’s efforts to contaminate the zeitgeist have, by many measures, succeeded.”. Several polls have examined the larger implications of the Alt- right’s growth on the American political landscape, “According to a study conducted by an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University, 65 percent of white

Americans would consider supporting a nativist, xenophobic party” (Brien 2016). An online poll of Millennials conducted in 2016 found that 34% of these respondents had a favorable perception of the Alt-right in comparison to 19% who had an unfavorable

35 perception, with many respondents indicating that they were unaware of the movement at the time of polling (Page and Shedrofsky 2016). Following the events of the Unite the

Right rally in Charlotesville an August 2017 Washington Post ABC poll found that 9% of respondents felt it was acceptable to “hold neo-Nazi or white supremacist views, equivalent to about 22 million Americans”. This same poll found that 10% of Americans

“support the ‘alt-right” (Langer 2017; Oppenheim 2017).

The increased presence of the Alt-right and its brand of fascist thought in society over the last few years has resulted in an increased presence in groups dedicated to opposing the Alt-right and its ideology. Antifa, which draws its name from the formal term anti-fascists, is a social movement whose members goals center on the opposition, violent or otherwise, of fascism. While some of these groups have histories that stretch back decades, a great number of Antifa cells started or exploded in number in response to the candidacy and eventual election of Donald Trump as U.S. president (Gluckman

2017). Antifa’s ideology and practices are based in ideas which position violence opposition as a reasonable and logical response to modern fascism. Antifa operates baed on the premise that non-violent resistance as a strategy is ineffective. Thinkers like Peter

Gelderloos (2007) have presented premises which suggest that the prioritization of nonviolence as a primary principle when organizing requires a level of privilege that members of ethnic minorities and/or those who advocate for these individuals simply do not possess. From this perspective, the adoption of non-violence by already marginalized activist groups creates a reality where the state possesses a monopoly on the legitimate use of violence. Groups such as Antifa reject this reality and propose that the opposition

36 of fascism represents cause for the use of violence resistance to be viewed as legitimate

(Gluckman 2017).

Antifa entered into the consciousness of many Americans following their opposition of White Supremacists at the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville in

August 2017 (Gluckman 2017). Generally speaking Antifa has been condemned on both the left and right for their willingness to utilize violent means (Traldi 2017; Lopez 2017), however this condemnation has not been universal. Prominent Black thinker Cornel West was quoted after the Unite the Right Rally as saying actually credited Antifa’s presence and tactics as the factors which kept West and other counter-protesters physically safe that weekend. During an interview with Democracy Now! West was quoted as saying

“The next day, for example, those 20 of us who were standing, many of them clergy, we would have been crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchists and the anti- fascists who approached, over 300, 350 anti-fascists. We just had 20. (Goodman 2017).

Another recent event which helped to raise the national profile of Antifa was their shutting down a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos at U.C. Berkeley on February 1st 2018. A combination of student and Antifa protestors disrupted the event through actions such as breaking windows and in some cases violently engaging Yianopoulos supporters. The campus would ultimately end up cancelling the event due to safety concerns and later

President Trump would suggest via Twitter that Berkeley “could lose federal funding for not allowing free speech.” (Arriaga, Hesse, McKenzie 2017).

Richard Spencer

Richard Spencer grew up in a wealthy part of Texas and went on to attend both

University of Virginia and Duke university (Brien 2016). Spencer is credited with coining the phrase Alt-right (Gray 2015; Nagle 2017) and is the president of the National

Policy Institute. The National Policy Institute is a conservative think-tank which has gained additional prominence since the rise of Trump (Brien 2016; Nagle 2017). Spencer actually led the crowd in the ‘Hail Trump’ chant during a meeting for the National Policy

Institute shortly after the election of Donald Trump. Spencer has also served as a prominent member of the group Identity Evropa. Identity Evropa is a race-motivated group which manifests itself in the form of a societal club, not dissimilarly to tactics employed by the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century (Joffe 2017).

Over the last few years as the Alt-right has gained additional notoriety and prevalence Spencer has been featured in a significant number of interviews and profiles through various media outlets. Amongst Spencer’s most infamous quotes include ‘Race is real; race is fundamental; race matters’ which is actually an embodiment of the ideas of fellow Alt-right celebrity Jared Taylor (Driscoll 2017). When asked in an interview if he considered himself a White Nationalist Spencer responded, “don’t use the term white nationalist, I like the term Alt-Right first off, and I also like the term Identitarian, because it gets to what I am and what I believe… Identity is at the heart of my ideology”

(Arciniega 2017). When asked about the “cuckservative” insult Spencer responded “The

#cuckservative meme doesn’t make any sense without race. It’s all about race…. What’s powerful about #cuckservative is that it is a call for racially conscious politics[.]”

(Heikkilä 2017).

Spencer may be most known amongst wider audiences for being punched in the face by an anonymous anti-fascist protester during an interview on Inauguration Day in

2016 (Deslandes 2017; Stack 2017). This occurrence led to a spat of debate about the political and social acceptability of combatting people with antagonistic beliefs such as

Spencer with physical violence (Stack 2017; Deslandes 2017). Within the context of norms such as the ACLU devoting resources towards defending the free speech rights of neo-nazis and White Supremacists these debates take on added significance (Cole 2017).

Individuals such as Deslandes (2017) have warned that these debates concerning violence towards individuals with bigoted views can often serve as red-herrings within the context of larger conversations concerning political conflict. Despite support from entities such as the ACLU, Spencer has not found himself unaffected by opposition presented by the likes of Antifa and other individuals who oppose the Alt-right’s ideology. In March of 2018

Spencer announced that he was cancelling a planned college speaking series, citing a proliferation of anti-fascists protestors at these events (Southern Poverty Law Center

2018).

METHODS

The purpose of this study is to provide an analysis of framings and portrayals pertaining to Colin Kaepernick and Richard Spencer. To accomplish this task, I employed a mixed-method approach which strived to embody intersectionality as praxis. As one of the founding members of the Alt-right, Richard Spencer served as a good representation of how movements which center the desires and feelings of White people are portrayed in popular discourse (Driscoll 2017 ; Nagle 2017; Michael 2017). Inversely, having become a symbol for the current movement taking placing against anti-Black racism, former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been both revered and chastised by journalists, academics, and politicians alike. The consideration of the way narratives are formed about these two figures will offer insights into the ways in which members of non- majoritarian movements are portrayed in comparison to members of White Identity

Movements. The evolution of ideas and perceptions happens in real-time, and this makes twitter a good venue in which to perform this type of analysis. If Richard Spencer, who is an actual White supremacist, is treated with similar or greater degrees of respect and legitimacy as Colin Kaepernick and other pro-Black activists, then this may be reflective of inequities concerning perceptions of legitimacy and efficacy between social movements. The possibility that modern-Nazism is being treated as the intellectual counter-weight to ideologies which call for the end of systemic racism and White supremacy should alarm anyone who considers themselves an advocate for fair and equal societies.

To accomplish this task, I analyzed the types of framings used in relation to

Richard Spencer and/or Colin Kaepernick which appear in the “News” sections of

Twitter. I coded for the frequency and general nature of the tweets (disapproving, supporting, indifferent, etc.). I also looked for the use of certain words and phrases related to key concepts regarding issues of identity, legitimacy, and political efficacy. It may be that issues such as those encapsulated in the movements under consideration are so polarizing that the mere mention of the subjects causes aggressive and antagonistic responses. I hoped to explore this potential reality.

Data Collection

In order to deconstruct the ways in which these two figures are presently viewed and framed I analyzed tweets mentioning Richard Spencer/the Alt-right and/or Colin

Kaepernick/Black Lives Matter from week of March 18 2018 to March 25 2018. By specifying my search to tweets appearing in the “News” section of twitter I was able to better analyze the role which media entities play in shaping framings and conversations surrounding political figures and movements. I read all of these tweets and checked larger conversations for context when necessary in order to more accurately identify phenomena such as sarcasm and ironic framings.

In addition to searches for the terms “Colin Kaepernick” and “Richard Spencer” I did searches on the terms “Black Lives Matter” and “Alt-right”. Lastly, I searched for tweets using the term “identity politics” in order to gauge how the concept is currently being used in the discourse. This type of social media analysis will reveal how legitimacy chasms work. We as sociologists must take into account the social location(s) of

41 individuals and the groups which they represent when analyzing the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of movements and their messaging. While in some segments of society it is still taboo to be outright advocating for Nazis in 2018, there are many roundabout ways in which scholars and media figures can defend neo-Nazis or critique individuals working for Black liberation. In order to truly analyze the ways in which labels such as “identity movements” are often used to delegitimize non-majoritarian organizing I also devoted energy to analyzing these types of framings.

I used the program Nvivo, in conjunction with NCapture and Twitter’s search functionality to retrieve, code, and categorize my selected tweets. I started with an open coding approach within the larger framing samples to first determine the prominent themes and frames present in each sample frame. After this I narrowed my initial list down to somewhere between five and ten exhaustive but not mutually exclusive categories for reach sample of tweets. Lastly in the discussion section I analyzed the prominent larger themes found in each of the five samples.

Data Codes

Within the “identity politics” sample the category “General Opposition/Disdain for Concept” was used to classify tweets which just generally expressed a negative sentiment towards the concept or practice of identity politics. The category “ID politics as the source of racism/division/mental opioid” was used to classify tweets which referenced identity politics or the people who engage in them as the cause of the racism, as the cause of division within society, or which described identity politics as politics for people who don’t want to use their brains or think critically. The category “ID politics as

42 part of the larger leftist/liberal/progressive plot” contains tweets which explicitly reference identity politics and movements as part of a larger international or multi- national leftist/progressive conspiracy. The category “Link to article about the term concept” contains tweets which simply consisted of an external link to an article about or related to the concept, without any additional commentary or perspective added.

“Ambiguous intent” captured tweets from which I could not ascertain a positive or negative intent from. The category “General defense of the concept/strategy” contains tweets which offered general pushbacks against the widespread disdain or critique of identity politics and identity movements presently found in society. Tweets found in the

“Reference to identity in general” category contained references to or use of the concept of identity, separate from its use within the term “identity politics”. “Claims related to the universality of identity politics” contains tweets which pushed back against critiques of identity politics by specifically referencing the universality of identity-based claims across examples of political movements. Lastly, the category “Joke or observation related to the fervor over identity politics” contains tweets which mocked or lampooned the present fervor over the perceived recent proliferation of identity politics throughout society.

Within the 530 tweet “Alt-right” sample the category “General disdain for the movement” was used to classify tweets which expressed a generally negative or antagonistic tone towards the Alt-right movement. “External link” was used to classify tweets which simply contained an external link to an article or video about the Alt-right movement without any additional commentary or perspective added. The category

“Misunderstanding about intentions or membership” was used to classify tweets which focused on premises that the Alt-right and its goals are being misconstrued or that individuals who are not official Alt-right members are being associated with the movement. The category “ambiguous” was used to classify tweets from which it was not possible to derive whether or not the tweeter was disapproving or supportive of the Alt- right movement. The category “Analgous for racism” was used to classify tweets which referenced the Alt-right movement and/or its members as being an analogous for racism or prejudice. The category “Equivocation with left or other groups” classified tweets which looked to compare the Alt-right to more leftist movements such as Black Lives

Matter, Antifa, or #MarchForOurLives. The category “General reference to the movement” classified tweets which generally refer to the Alt-right movement without indicating a clear approving or disapproving stance towards the movement. “Support or defense of the movement” contains tweets which offered general support for the Alt-right movement. The category “Allusion to a government/media conspiracy against the Alt- right/America” clontains tweets which referred to the idea of a larger conspiracy being orchestrated against the Alt-right/conservatives/America.

Within the 355 tweet “Richard Spencer” sample the category “Explicit mocking of or joke about Spencer” was used to classify tweets which mocked or made humorous reference to Richard Spencer. The category “External link” was used to classify tweets which simply contained an external link to an article or video about Richard Spencer without any additional commentary or perspective added. The category “General opposition or disdain for Spencer” was used to classify tweets which expressed a general

44 negative or antagonistic stance towards Spencer. The category “Defense of or support of

Spencer” classified tweets which offered general support or praise of Spencer. The category “General reference to Spencer” contains tweets which generally referred to

Richard Spencer without indicating a stance of opposition or support. “References to figure other than Spencer” was used to classify tweets which appeared in the search but actually made reference to other figures such as Robert Spencer. The category “Disdain or criticism explicitly from the right” captured tweets which critiqued or mocked Spencer for not being conservative enough.

In the 630 tweet “Black Lives Matter” sample the category “External link” was used to classify tweets which simply contained an external link to an article or video about the Black Lives Matter movement without any additional commentary or perspective added. “Reference to March for Our Lives, Gun Reform, or Parkland” contains tweets which made a direct reference to the school-shooting in Parkland, alluded to the subsequent activism that sprang in result of the shooting, or which referenced the

National March for Our Lives event on March 24th 2018. The category “Feelings of frustration, irony, or disappointment at lack of support” classified tweets which expressed feeling of frustration with a perceived lack of support for Black Lives Matter in general, or in comparison to other social movements. “General expression of support” was used to classify tweets which offered a general statement of support or admiration for the movement. The category “Mockery or Disdain for the Movement” was used to classify tweets which offered general negative sentiment towards the BLM movement. The category “Unrelated or Ambiguous Intent” was used to classify tweets in the sample

45 which either did not reference the Black Lives Matter Movement or which referenced the movement without making it clear if the tweeter was disapproving or supportive of the movement. The category “General reference to the movement” was used to classify tweets which generally referred to the Black Lives Matter without indicating a stance of opposition or support. The category “Reference to Sacramento or Stephon Clark” was used to classify tweets which referenced the shooting of Stephon Clark in Sacramento on

March 19th by police officers, or the subsequent protests afterwards. The category

“Allusion to ‘Black on Black Crime’ or Violence Committed by Black People” classified tweets which juxtaposed the existence of the Black Lives Matter with the perceived prevalence of Black on Black crime or violence committed by Black people in society.

The category “Claims that BLM promote terrorism, violence, racism, or anti-cop sentiments” classified tweets which made claims that the Black Lives Matter movement and its leaders promote or endorse violence, terrorism, or anti-police sentiment.

Within the 455 tweet “Colin Kaepernick” sample the category “External Link” was used to classify tweets which simply contained an external link to an article or video about Colin Kaepernick without any additional commentary or perspective added. The category “Reference/Comparison to, or mention of other athlete” classified tweets which mentioned Kaepernick in comparison or reference to other athletes or tweets which referenced Kaepernick because he was mentioned by another athlete in the media. The category “Defense of activism” categorized tweets which offered a defense or support of

Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem. The category “Defense of playing ability” categorized tweets which focused on the idea that Kaepernick is still capable of

46 and/or should presently be playing in the NFL. “General Reference or Ambiguous Intent” classified tweets which either generally referenced Kaepernick without offering neither a defense or support, or which directly referenced Kaepernick without making their opinion of him clear. The category “Critique of activism” was used to classify tweets which offered direct critiques or criticisms of Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the anthem.

The category “Negative perception of playing ability” categorized tweets which directly questioned or derailed Kaepernick’s ability and/or right to presently to be playing in the

NFL. The category “General Disdain” classified tweets which presented clear disdain for

Kaepernick without directly mentioning his activism or playing ability.

Limitations

The main limitation associated with this methodology is related to the fact that twitter conversation obviously isn’t all-encompassing when it comes to the nature of framings on social media. Facebook remains the most popularly used social media platform and there are a number of newer platforms nipping at Twitter’s heels. But with some of the most influential figures of the current political moment including the current president of the United States utilizing Twitter regularly, the space functions as a key element of the larger mainstream discourse. Therefore, analyzing the intricacies of the framing of social movements within the specific context of Twitter should provide valuable insights. As media outlets continue to infuse considerations of twitter and other online spaces into their business models, and the most powerful figures in the world including the President of the United States continue to use twitter to craft and control

47 narratives, Twitter will continue to serve as a key element of the larger political discourse.

Another limitation of this study relates to the reality that it is more often than not impossible to actually verify whether or not the person behind a Twitter account is actually the same person represented in the associated twitcon. For this reason, I avoided any analysis which looks to connect the identity of the tweeter with the content of their tweets. In addition, there was also no real way to account for tweets related to the subjects which had been deleted prior to data collection. While these limitations need to be acknowledged, ultimately, they did not prevent the study from yielding relevant and interesting results.

RESULTS Table 1: “Identity Politics” Sample (261 Tweets) Theme # of tweets Percentage of Sample General Opposition/Disdain for 58 22% concept ID Politics as the source of 55 21% racism/division/mental opioid ID Politics as part of the larger 45 17% leftist/liberal/progressive plot Link to article about the 30 11% term/concept Ambiguous Intent 23 9% General defense of the 22 8% concept/strategy Reference to identity in general 19 7% Claims related to universality of 15 6% identity politics/existence of White ID politics Joke or observation related to the 14 5% fervor over identity politics

43% of tweets in the 261tweet sample expressed either a general disdain for the practice/concept of identity politics or located identity politics as the source of division, racism, or non-critical thought within society. In comparison, tweets which generally defended the concept, pointed to the universal nature of identity organizing, or made humor of the growing concern over the concept of identity movements only totaled 19% of the sample.

Table 2: “Identity Politics” Crosstabs Code Number of links reflecting that code General defense of the concept/strategy 1 Identity Politics are actually racist/divisive 5 Identity Politics are part of a larger 3 leftist/liberal plot General opposition or disdain for identity 8 politics

Table 3: Most Common Words in “Identity Politics” Sampling Frame (554 Tweets) Word # of appearances People 47 Right 31 Whites 29 Think 21 Black 18

The five most commonly appearing words in the sample (five characters or more) were “people”, “right”, “whites”, “think”, “plays”, and “black”.

Table 4: “Alt-right” Sample Results (530 Tweets) Theme # of tweets % of sample General disdain for the movement 285 54% External Link 78 15% Misunderstanding about intentions or 58 11% membership Ambiguous 53 10% Analogous for racism 53 10% Equivocation with left or other groups 43 8% General reference to the movement 32 6% Support or defense of the movement 28 5% Allusion to a government/media conspiracy 21 4% against the Alt-right/America

A majority, 54%, of the tweets in the 530 tweet sample expressed disdain or disapproval of the Alt-right movement. In comparison, the number of tweets which either expressed general support, alluded to a conspiracy against the Alt-right, or offered defenses in the form of equivocations to other movements only combined to total 17% of the total sample.

Table 5: Most Common Words in “Alt-right” Sampling Frame (1991 Tweets) Word # of appearances People 449 Different 240 Piece 237 Movement 233 Human 228

The five most commonly appearing words in the 1991-tweet sampling frame were “people”, “different”, “piece”, “movement”, and “human”.

Table 6: “Alt-right” Crosstabs Code Number of links reflecting that code General disdain for the movement 11 Equivocation with left or other groups 3 Analogous for racism 1 Misunderstandings about intentions or 1 membership

Table 7: “Richard Spencer” Sample Results (355 Tweets) Theme # of tweets % of sample Explicit mocking of or joke about Spencer 97 27% External Link 94 26% General opposition or disdain for Spencer 81 23% Defense or support of Spencer 30 8% General reference to Spencer 28 8% Reference to figure other than Spencer 27 8% Disdain or criticism explicitly from the 8 2% right

27% of tweets in the 355 tweet sample consisted of mockery or jokes about Richard Spencer. An additional 23% of tweets expressed general disdain or contempt for Spencer. 8% of tweets offered some sort of support for Richard Spencer.

Table 8: Most Common Words in “Richard Spencer” Sampling Frame (797 Tweets) Word # of appearances White 48 Right 42 People 38 Punch 32 Think 26

The five most commonly appearing words in the sampling frame (5 characters or more) were “White”, “right”, “people”, “punch”, and “think”.

Table 9: “Black Lives Matter” Sample Results (630 Tweets) Theme # of tweets % of sample External Link 161 26% Reference to March for Our Lives, Gun 161 26% Reform, or Parkland Feelings of frustration, irony, or 97 15% disappointment at lack of support for BLM General Expression of Support 94 15% Mockery or Disdain for the Movement 65 10% Unrelated or Ambiguous Intent 43 7% General Reference to the Movement 39 6% Reference to Sacramento or Stephon Clark 37 6% Allusion to “Black on Black Crime” or 24 4% Violence Committed by Black People Claims that BLM promote terrorism, violence, 24 4% racism, or anti-cop sentiments

Over one quarter, 26%, of the tweets in the 630-tweet sample made some sort of allusion or reference to the “March for Our Lives”, Parkland, or gun reform in general. 15% of tweets represented general statements of support for the Black Lives Matter Movement while another 15% of tweets explicitly expressed frustration at a perceived lack of support for Black Lives Matter and its members.

Table 10: Most Common Words in “Black Lives Matter” Sampling Frame (3288 Tweets) Word # of appearances Police 2495 Race 1053 Michael 2042 Profile 2039 Bennett 2034

The five most commonly appearing words in the sampling frame (5 characters or more) were “police”, “race”, “Michael”, “Profile”, and “Bennett”.

Table 11: “Black Lives Matter” Crosstabs Code Number of links reflecting that code Reference to Sacramento or Stephon Clark 17 Reference to March for Our Lives, Gun 9 Reform, or Parkland Mockery or disdain for the movement 4 Claims that BLM promote terrorism, 2 violence, racism, or anti-cop sentiments Feelings of frustration, irony, or 2 disappointment at lack of support for BLM

Table 12: “Colin Kaepernick” Sample Results (455 tweet sample) Theme # of tweets % of sample External link 312 69% Reference/comparison to, or 297 65% mention of other athlete Defense of activism 64 14% Defense of playing ability 54 12% General Reference or 23 5% Ambiguous Intent Critique of activism 19 4% Negative perception of 16 4% playing ability General Disdain 14 3%

Over two-thirds, 69%, of the tweets in this 455-tweet sample included external links to articles or videos. 65% of the tweets in this sample included allusions to other athletes, primarily Johnny Manziel. The total percentage of tweets which either defended Kaepernick’s activism or playing ability totaled 26% while the percentage that criticized him for his activism, his playing ability, or just generally totaled 11%.

Table 13: Most Common Words in “Colin Kaepernick” Sampling Frame (2285 tweet) Word # of appearances Johnny 13451 Manziel 13439 Compare 10653 Thought 10019 Share 10007

The five most commonly appearing words in the sampling frame (5 characters or more) were “Johnny”, “Manziel”, “compare”, “thought”, and “share”.

Table 14: “Colin Kaepernick” Crosstabs Code Number of links reflecting that code Reference/comparison to, or mention of 264 other athlete Defense of activism 23 Defense of playing ability 17 Critique of activism 3 General disdain 3 Negative perception of playing ability 2

DISCUSSION

Identity Politics

Theme 1: Identity Politics are divisive/racist/encourage discrimination

Perhaps the most interesting notion expressed by tweeters with strong views within the sample was that identity politics as an organizing strategy or concept promotes division and discrimination, echoing claims made by the likes of Kruks (1995), Douthat

(2012), and Lilla (2016). From the perspective of these tweeters, identity politics and identity movements make it more difficult for Democrats and/or organizations and figures from the left to respond to the needs of the majority. Some tweets which reflect these ideas include:

“Just the framework of western activism is inherently individualistic and liberal

and rooted in identity politics so it’s always gonna fail and end up pitting similar

people against each other lol” – 9:56 PM, March 24th 2018

“Ironically, I didn't vote for Trump in the primary and I am not a fan. I just can't

abide the alternative. The last couple of decades of identity politics has turned us

into warring tribes...” – 9:54PM, March 24th 2018

These tweets position identity politics as being too individualistic. From this perspective, a focus on the issues and concerns of specific groups detracts from the possibility for collaboration and alliances. In this way, these critiques of identity politics as an

56 organizing practice mirror critiques offered by thinkers such as Kruks (1995), who argued that identity organizing had a net negative effect within the field of feminism by limiting the potential for broad organizing within feminist circles. This notion that identity politics lends to further polarization and combativeness exists as a primary area of focus for individuals who wish to critique identity politics as a practice without directly critiquing the individuals who are most likely to engage in actions traditionally understood as identity politics. In other words, this framing allows individuals to critique minority rights/pro-LGBTQ/feminist movements without explicating critiquing people of color, queer folks, or women.

Diversity and Demography

Tweets reflecting this theme also connected the perceived increase in identity politics within society to larger trends surrounding issues of diversity, demography, and political power. Some tweeters conceived of identity politics as problematic more so because of who exactly the people engaging in identity politics have historically been.

For individuals working from these viewpoints, phenomenon such as an increase in uncritical groupthink can be explained by people allowing identity politics to dictate how to think and feel.

“A complete bastardization of facts and lies is much more accurate. I agree

identity politics exist, the left thrives on it. Just ask most black people how they

feel about Larry Elder or Ben Carson, or how most women feel about Hillary.” –

9:11 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Exactly!! Democrats love identity politics for that reason” – 9:44 PM, March

24th, 2018

One cannot reasonably evaluate claims about the inherent issues associated with identity politics without considering the reality that most of the movements which are subjected to these critiques consist primarily of individuals who hold marginalized identities within society. People who object to identity politics based on the idea that this is the tactic which the “left” uses to pander to minorities don’t appear to be conceiving of identity politics as a technique which is also employed by the “right”. As discussed in

Chapter 2, references to identity movements within mainstream discourse are almost entirely limited to non-majoritarian groups, and this selective application of the concept is reflected within this sample of tweets. There is certainly an irony in the reality that a great percentage of people believe that politics based on group identity and exclusion are exclusive to the political left.

Theme 2: Identity Politics as part of a global leftist plot

One of the most prominent and substantial themes found through the tweets in the

“Identity Politics” sample was the idea that identity politics and identity movements are actually part of a larger leftist/liberal/progressive plot. 17% of the tweets (Table 1) analyzed reflected notions that identity politics have become the primary organizing tactic of “the left”, or that identity politics are analogous to pandering to minorities.

While I am classifying and analyzing these ideas separately from the previously

58 discussed in the first theme, I suspect that racialized political understandings and widespread prejudices are at least partially responsible for conceptions of identity politics which are built on ideas of conspiracy against the traditional western majority. A good portion of the tweets which were associated with this theme made anti-Jewish, anti-

Black, or anti-Latinx references within the context of the tweets. Some of the tweets which reflect this theme include:

“Its what the left does, its called identity politics, its the old divide and conquer

method. They also pander to minority voters, whom without dems would never

win elections” – 10:13 PM, March 24th 2018

“Seeing this child being used as a tool of identity politics angers & saddens me.

Why do these people always make everything about them? This

#MarchForOurLives thing may have some intentions, but the majority of them

are agenda-based. #media #exploitation #agenda #identitypolitics” - 10:09 PM,

March 24th 2018

“Stating this leftist lunacy is only a problem in the states is just intellectually

dishonest and you know it. Identity politics among leftists is spreading like wild

fire and it's universal. This isn't a social media myth but if that makes it easier

for you to digest, then fine” – 7:56PM, March 24th 2018

These framings primarily positon identity politics as a flawed tactic exclusive to liberals and/or minorities. In this way, these critiques echo the ideas reflected in theme 1, but with a greater focus on the idea that there is some sort of larger conspiracy at play.

The prevalence of this specific type of talking point may be a reflection of the ways in which ideas and talking points once primarily associated with more extreme right-wing viewpoints have become entrenched in everyday lexicon. Be it Bernie Sanders or random

Twitter users it is becoming commonplace to hear arguments which portray identity politics as a catch-all term for movements and concerns which don’t reflect the priorities of whoever has the microphone at the time (Willstein 2017). I believe that it is reasonable to draw a direct line between a growing belief in the existence of a liberal-minded international conspiracy against traditional majorities and the growing influence of entities such as the Alt-right and the Freedom Caucus. The work of Brien (2016), Nagle

(2017) and many of their peers would lend support to this idea.

Many of the tweets in the sample build off of the idea that the purpose of identity politics is to shame or marginalize people who possess privileged identities within society

(Lilla 2017; Gao 2018). Many tweeters in this sample conceive of identity organizing as a tactic used by people who are unwilling or incapable of thinking critically about society and politics. This is significant and potentially alarming because this idea, that identity politics are simply a bad strategy employed by the left, is reflected not just on Twitter and in the New York Times Opinion section, but also by elected officials and prominent leaders. The modern premise that identity politics are utilized out of political tact is a far cry from the original conception of the concept as envisioned by the Combahee River

Collective (1977). I believe that a great majority of individuals who participate in movements such as Black Lives Matter would describe their motivations for participating more as obligations or responsibilities than as the result of mass conspiracy or brainwashing. The popularity of frames which locate movements such as Black Lives

Matter and #MarchForOurLives as part of multi-national Soros-funded plots reflect the reality that multiple, contradictory frames are operating prominently and simultaneously in the current political moment.

Theme 3: The hypocrisy/irony in locating identity politics as exclusive to “The Left”.

While a good majority of the tweets in the sample framed identity politics as a negative or ill-fated concept, there was a percentage of tweeters who offered an alternative framing (Table 1). For some individuals, there is a direct contradiction in locating identity organizing as a problem exclusive to or even most prominent on “the left”. In this way, some tweets in the sample reflect the type of rebuttals offered by the likes of Collins (2006) when she draws attention to the history of identity-based organizing by White Americans and Coates (2017) when he questions when present critics of identity politics will turn their attention to Donald Trump and his followers.

“Would hope part of seeing passion and engagement of young people at marches

in the US today would put paid to bland media narratives that paint young people

as either ‘too self involved’ or ‘too sensitive and into identity politics’ etc. Clear

that many are aware n empathetic” – 7:31 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Also, I’m sick and tired of “identity politics” being wielded like a club. Anything

that’s not from a white straight male POV is dismissed as identity politics. Eff

that” – 7:30 PM, March 24th, 2018

“It's almost like these ppl are pro identity actually, as long as it's an identity they

approve of” – 7:52 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Not to mention “progressive” politicians moving to court trump voters and

dismissing their racism all while calling “identity politics” a distraction and

saying racism is less important to “ordinary americans” than “bread and butter

issues”…” – 6:29 pm, March 24th, 2018

Many of the tweets associated with this theme directly rebuke the idea that identity politics are the de-facto strategy for people who are not critically engaged. For the defenders of identity politics within the sample, engagement in identity movements reflects a deeper concern for society at large.

In addition to framings which buck up against critiques based on the effectiveness of identity organizing, there were also a substantial number of tweets which looked to oppose the notion that the right-wing and centrists don’t also engage in identity politics.

Burnham (2017), Wilson (2016) and their like have attempted to located examples of identity organizing within the histories of White and/or majoritarian movements, and this practice also manifests on Twitter. Framings used in the sample cited examples such as

Trumpism and the Alt-right as examples of identity politics on the right. Some tweeters frame appeals to identity as a flaw that is exhibited across the political spectrum, while others portray organizing based on shared identity as an innate feature of politics in general.

Alt-Right Sample

Theme 1: General disdain and disapproval

One prominent theme in the Alt-right sample is that of general disdain and disapproval for the movement and its members. Over half of the tweets in this sample expressed negative sentiments towards the Alt-right, and tweeters found a variety of ways to make these feelings known. These trends back up public opinion polling data which illustrates that while support for the Alt-right does exist at a potentially alarming level

(Table 4), a majority of people still do not approve of the movement (Table 4; Thraldi

2017; Lopez 2017).

“Another day, another alt-right/redpill person killing minorities” – 7:06 AM,

March 24th, 2018

“#Trump again attempts 2 ban transgender ppl from military svc. Next it'll be

gays then immigrants then women. B4 long he'll only let white males serve in the

military bc those r the only ppl he seems 2 trust. It's what happens when he gets

all his advice from the alt-right.” – 3:02 PM, March 24th, 2018

“You like hearing Richard Spencer the nazi talk and like his opinion but you hate

a 17 yr old boy speaking his mind?????? THAT IS PRETTY FUCKED UP” –

8:54 pm, March 24th, 2018

Similar to the framings present in the sample related to Richard Spencer, many of the tweets which expressed negative sentiments for the Alt-right as a movement did so without directly naming their beliefs as the cause or reason for the disdain. Tweets in the sample associated the Alt-right with everything from policy decisions enacted by Donald

Trump as president to the negative and threatening messages and comments the teenage activists from Parkland have been receiving. While some framings in this sample did specifically name aspects such as the Unite the Right Rally and the mistreatment of

LGBTQ individuals as specific reasons for opposition to the Alt-right, many other tweets focused more on the ways in which members of the Alt-right construct arguments and engage in debate in online spaces.

In some ways, there are positives to the patterns found amongst the type of framings which are prominent in tweets about the Alt-right. On the surface, there is definitely value in attempting to engage in civil debate and offering critiques about tactics, etiquette, etc. However, when this level of nuance is being applied to a group which actually advocates for ethnic cleansing, it is worth asking if other members of society are being engaged in a similar way. I would argue that pontificating on the skill with which members of the Alt-right do or do not construct their arguments is ultimately pointless if one finds arguments of racial superiority and White supremacy inherently

64 invalid. When appeals for open-mindedness and free speech are manifesting as defense of actual Nazi’s then society may be dealing with serious inequity in terms of what types of people have the ability to dictate and influence the terms of conversations. Stephen Miller plays a visible and tangible role in constructing White House policy on issues such as immigration and international trade (Thrush and Steinhauer 2017). This reality means that his ideas and prejudices affect people’s lives on a global level. Figures such as Milo

Yiannopoulos and Richard Spencer are interviewed and profiled at events such as CPAC and by entities such as the New York Times (Brien 2016; Nagle 2017). This level of access and influence is incongruent with that enjoyed by members of antithetical movements such as Antifa or Black Lives Matter. Anyone who wants to do an honest and effective evaluation of the Alt-right’s influence on society must consider the ways in which the movement has already achieved a great deal of success, making this a conversation about present reality and not built on false-equivalent hypotheticals.

Theme 2: The Alt-right is just as bad as…

Amongst tweeters who attempted to defend or explain the Alt-right movement the favored tactic was to draw equivalence or comparison to other social movements or groups. Many of the framings in this sample did not focus on whether or not there is merit to the claims made by the movement, but rather chose to evoke other movements as examples as to why the Alt-right is being unfairly targeted or persecuted. These ideas are not surprising nor unique to Twitter, writers such as Nagle (2017) have consistently pointed to phenomenon such as “Tumblr style identity politics” as explanations and causations for the rise of the Alt-right movement.

“Seems like a lot of people don't understand that lunatic ideologies on the left

(particularly the outright bigotry against white people and Jews) is also being

enabled by social media. The rise of the alt-right is only a small part of the story.”

– 7:44 PM, March 24th, 2018

“At this point #feminism and other social justice groups and the #altright are two

groups of nutbars spouting equally factually wrong things at each other.

In fact, nutbar stuff social justice says is what gives the Alt-Right ammo.

Let's outline in this thread how to fix things.” – 11:55 AM, March 24th, 2018

A lot of similarities between Black feminists and alt-right white supremacists. {{-

_-}}” -4:40 PM, March 24th, 2018

“The alt-right and the regressive left need each other. In fact, they created each

other, and without one side remaining radical, the other would dissolve” – 8:28

PM, March 24th, 2018

The type of false-equivalencies and deflections reflected in the frames displayed above are significant for several reasons. First, in the minds of many people the Alt-right simply represents the equivalent to far-left political organizations. While I am not disputing that far-left groups exist, it is clear that at this point none of them enjoy the

66 same levels of support or resources that the Alt-right is currently benefitting from in the

United States and Europe. Additionally, it is doubtful, though not impossible, that there are many groups on what is being dubbed the “far” or “new” left which are openly calling for race wars and deportations. It is interesting that narratives which paint modern day

Neo-Nazis as simply one side of the political coin exist simultaneously with narratives that claim that the prevalence of identity politics is a problem that is exclusive to “the left”. There is a clear level of cognitive dissonance present when the same individuals who decry the concept of identity politics also openly support and defend movements such as the Alt-right. These trends more than anything may be the best indicator of the reality that the Alt-right is succeeding in their goal of shifting the Overton Window in their favor (Kelly 2017).

Another reason that these framings of the Alt-right which evoke or reference other movements are significant is the reality that they reflect larger trends in how issues and people are discussed and argued presently in society. If any subject, human or non-human alike, maintains society’s attention for long enough then an ideological analogous tends to spring up to serve as a foil. For every Black Lives Matter Movement, there is an All

Lives Matter rebuttal waiting, for every critique of Donald Trump there is a question regarding an Obama or a Clinton already in the wings ready to be deployed. The ugly truth however is that these surface level equivalents are rarely treated or discussed in the same way. I do not feel that it is intellectually honest to equate Antifa’s relationship with the “far left”, whatever that is, to the current dynamic which exists between the Alt-right and the modern Republican party. Whereas Antifa has primarily been demonized and

67 dismissed by members of the traditional liberal establishment (Lopez 2017; Gluckman

2017), academics, pundits, and politicians alike agree that the Alt-right is at the very least an influence on the development of modern conservative politics (Brien 2016; Nagle

2017). I did not see any members of Antifa or other groups identified with the “Alt-left” openly endorsing Hillary Clinton in the run up to the 2016 presidential election. To treat the relationships between the fringes and the cores of each side of the political spectrum as identical is both intellectually dishonest and potentially dangerous. The same individuals and movements demonized by people from across the breadth of the right

(think Black Lives Matter, Antifa, college students) also receive condemnation from the most prominent and powerful members of the political left. Meanwhile previously fringe figures such as Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller have worked themselves into legitimate positions of power within modern political machines. Treating any two sides who disagree as “the same” within the context of political discussions blunts our ability to critically deconstruct and dissect exactly what factors do and don’t allow political figures and groups to grow in power and influence.

Richard Spencer Sample

Theme 1: Mockery

It is impossible to analyze the prominent themes present in the sample of tweets derived from searching Richard Spencer’s name without devoting attention to the general degree of mockery and vitriol associated with his name and image. About half of all of the tweets analyzed in this sample either generally opposed or more directly mocked

Spencer, with almost 10% of tweets making a direct reference to his having been punched in the face on camera (Table 7).

“In fairness, you did come in first in the "closest to Richard Spencer" hair

division.” 2:15 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Tell a trans person that Trump and Clinton were the same, that both parties are

the same. I hope if you do they will punch you like you’re Richard Spencer.” –

2:22 AM, March 24th, 2018

“OMG. I am dying laughing. This is LITERALLY the most pathetic thing I’ve

seen on twitter. This is sadder that Richard Spencer’s tits.” – 9:37 PM, March

24th, 2018

“search up "fuccboi haircut" to see if i have one (i do) and im seeing pics of

richard spencer wtf” – 11:35 PM, March 23rd, 2018

I believe that it is both important and notable that while many tweeters that generally expressed opposition or disdain for Spencer explicitly objected to his viewpoints and ideas, a majority of the tweets which mocked him did so for reasons other than his beliefs. As reflected in the tweets above, many detractors focus their ire towards

Spencer on factors such as his physical appearance and style of dress. I belief that this

69 observation is especially significant when juxtaposed with the types of critiques and jokes made about prominent figures of color. Is it possible that the natural impulse to analyze

Spencer and his movement through a comedic frame has played a factor in the ability for the Alt-right to grow and disseminate their ideas throughout academic and popular spheres? These questions should be considered in combination with the reality that even when prominent non-White figures are attacked for their physical appearances, these attacks are much more likely to be rooted in ethnic stereotypes.

This previous point is not meant to draw a comparison between different manifestations of ridicule and mean-spiritedness, but rather to point out that Richard

Spencer is a good example as to how the presence of whiteness affects the ways in which even negative framings develop. At the end of the day people who are making jokes about Spencer’s physical appearance are not, at least not in that very moment, focusing on his actual ideas and actions. This somewhat counter-intuitive dynamic is what has allowed the Alt-right and its leaders to steadily develop momentum and following while many people spend their time and energy focused on trivial aspects of the larger movement such as the use of the Pepe meme (Matthews 2016; Nagle 2017). It almost seems as if the intrinsic Whiteness which is embedded in movements such as the Alt- right can work as a deflector shield, insulating these groups from the harshest criticisms and consequences. Every online conversation which focuses on how dorky Richard

Spencer looks or on whether or not frustrated folks should spend time cursing out members of the Alt-right online represents a conversation which is not focused on the task of stomping out modern-day fascism wherever it may manifest.

Theme 2: The effect of Antifa

Another theme that stood out upon review of the tweets was the very specific ways in which Antifa and anti-fascists were referenced within the sample. Of the tweets within this sample which consisted of external links, a good number of those articles and videos focused on the impact of Antifa on Richard Spencer and the Alt-right. Most tweeters who referenced Antifa did so with positive connotations, sometimes even while condemning the group’s perceived propensity for violence.

"I can't tell you what to do but I'll tell you what to do." You're a funny guy. I'm

not promoting Antifa. I'm promoting the idea of deplatforming Nazis. Seemed

obvious to me. But if Antifa punching Richard Spencer made him give up on

speaking at universities GOOD.” – 5:47 AM, March 24th, 2018

“But I do know that groups of likeminded people who did work to what I guess

you'd call "bully" people like Richard Spencer aided in them ceasing their

speeches that usually ended in doxxing immigrants, recruitment, and violence

against marginalized ppl” – 6:29 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Antifa Has Richard Spencer on the Run. Does That Vindicate Its Tactics?” –

9:53 PM, March 24th, 2018

The ways that Antifa are framed do a great deal towards revealing the current perception of the degree of threat which the Alt-right is generally perceived of. I would suggest that the prominence of framings which openly pontificate on whether or not

Antifa is justified in meeting the Alt-right with violence reflects the reality that many everyday individuals do no actually view the Alt-right as a substantial threat to society at present. Our culture very rarely turns down opportunities to embrace justified violence, so the fact that there is still debate surrounding the acceptability of Antifa would suggest that there is still a great deal of debate as to whether or not the Alt-right is dangerous enough to warrant violent opposition. This is also the question at the heart of debate about “free-speech” on campus (Foley 2017). If you feel that at its core the Alt-right and its ideology represent a tangible and credible threat towards the safety of certain individuals in society, then you will be much less empathetic to concerns over Richard

Spencer’s right to free speech. If, however, you believe that the Alt-right is primarily made up of frustrated young men who are at the end of the day harmless, then you will be more inclined to adopt an absolutist view which looks to protect the free-speech rights of the Alt-right and its members.

This debate continues to take place in many corners of society, as scholars and politicians continue to warn of growing ethno-nationalist and White supremacist movements across the world. In an era where the explicitly non-violent Black Lives

Matter movement is consistently characterized as violent and terroristic, I believe that it is fair to ask whether or not the levels of empathy displayed towards the likes of Richard

Spencer would be or has been employed toward race conscious movements which consist primarily of people of color.

Black Lives Matter

Theme 1: Disappointment and frustration at a lack of support

A total of 41% of the tweets analyzed in the sample made either direct allusions to recent political organizing taking place around the issue of gun control, or general statements expressing frustration at inconsistencies concerning perceptions of protest and political organizing (Table 9). The most consistent framing found in the tweets analyzed reflected frustration with the perception that organizing around gun control that has taken place since the mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas has been much more well-received and reacted to than organizing undertaken under the banner of Black Lives Matter over the last few years. Most tweeters did not express disapproval at the notion of gun control, but rather frustration at inconsistencies within messages regarding the effectiveness and validity of protesting.

“Who explains to the family of Tamir Rice & Aiyana Stanley-Jones the difference

between Black Lives Matter and March for Our Lives? #MarchForOurLives” –

8:00 PM, March 24th, 2018

“everyone needs to remember that before this, the black lives matter movement

and countless other black-led organizations have been fighting to end gun

violence for decades. without brave people like them, we wouldn’t be doing this.

#marchforourlives #blacklivesmatter” – 8:53 PM, March 24th, 2018

“I'm all for this march for our lives movement and all but where the hell was this

support during the black lives matter movement? Where was our support? Where

was the white people supporting us? WHERE WAS IT!?” – 5:29 PM, March 24th,

2018

“I wish these white celebrities would be as vocal about black lives matter as they

are with addressing gun violence. The word “Black” is a trigger for them, even

though they profit off black ideas everyday. People fight for causes so long as it

doesn’t involve race.” – 2:58 PM, March 24th, 2018

The tweets above reflect the idea that Black Live Matter laid the groundwork in many ways for #MarchForOurLives and related political activity. Many of the tweets in the sample called out perceived hypocrisy as individuals who had openly questioned or opposed Black Lives Matter threw their full support behind this recent push for gun control that is being fronted by middle-class White teenagers. The framings in this sample focused on the reality that in a matter of weeks #MarchForOurLives was able to drum up a greater level of popular support for gun control than activists working against systemic oppression have been able to ascertain over the course of decades.

Not all of the tweets in the sample which referenced Parkland or the gun control march did so with empathy or reverence for BLM as a movement. Many individuals felt that it was inappropriate or illogical to be evoking Black Lives Matter in the same breath as #MarchForOurLives. This frame presents the argument that individuals expressing disappointment or discontent are doing so for their own selfish reasons.

“This Washington anti gun rally is great. But some people turning this into a

black lives matter argument is ridiculous. Not about you folks” – 6:00 PM, March

24th, 2018

“Black Lives Matter is not the same as March for Our Lives. I get that there are

inequalities in the national reception but don’t let the chip on your shoulder be

used to cover logic” – 8:46 PM, March 24th, 2018

The above examples of this argument display similar strands of logic found in the sample of tweets related to identity politics. Many of these individuals position members and supporters of Black Lives Matter as in opposition, or at least separate from, individuals who support the young adults from Parkland. It is difficult to ignore the racial undertones present in arguments that suggest people claiming that minorities are receiving lower levels of empathy and support in the United States of America are doing so out of a self- centered or illogical place. I believe that this disconnect can help us to analyze the ways in which demography can shape the narratives that form around social movements in real

75 time. We are seeing before our eyes that Black Lives Matter is being treated as an identity movement, in the worst sense of the term, by literally the same people who are treating current gun-control organizing as political activity derived entirely from a place of logic and civic duty. Black thinkers such as Khan-Cullors have discussed the internal and external conflict associated with taking action which one feels is both entirely necessary to ensure the safety of Black lives and morally upstanding, while being simultaneously attacked with labels such as “terrorist” and “Black Identity Extremist”

(2018). The sense of frustration is embedded in many of the tweets found within this theme.

Theme 2: BLM is actually violent/anti-police

For detractors of the Black Lives Matter movement one frame reigned supreme as the go-to for demonizing or delegitimizing pro-Black political organizing. Many of the tweets in the sample centered on the idea that BLM as a movement is anti-police and promotes violence or terrorism (Table 9). Few, if any of these tweets cited legitimate examples of violence, against the police or otherwise, perpetrated or endorsed by members of the movement but this claim still serves as a rallying cry for people who bemoan the Movement for Black Lives.

“They represent 5 million responsible gun owners and none of whom, last time I

checked, were the perpetrators of any of the mass gun violence. The NRA would

be a problem if they promoted violence like, say, Antifa or Black Lives Matter,

but they don’t.” – 11:28 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Hey at least Trump supports the blue! You should be grateful that he’s president

instead Crooked Hillary because she was more for Black Lives Matter and not

law enforcement”- 5:24 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Actually love the entire movement is at fault here. Quite a few instances where

BLM has openly advocated for the murder of cops I live in Dallas where one

murdered five endangering hundreds of people The creator of the black lives

matter hashtag is an incredible racist.” – 11:34 PM, March 23rd, 2018

It is unclear, and perhaps impossible to tell what percentage of people actually believe that Black Lives Matter advocates for violence against police officers. The shelf-life of these claims is more than likely rooted in histories of stereotypes regarding the violent and aggressive nature of Black people. Still it would seem that the validity of this frame is reliant on a drastic misunderstanding of the claims being made by Black Lives Matter and individuals such as Colin Kaepernick. Claims that institutions such as the police commit indiscriminate violence against people of color by practice are not equivalent to claims that violence against members of institutions such as the police should be accepted or promoted. It is only through the continued existence of entities whose sole purpose is to promote frames which confirm the biases and beliefs of the most privileged White

Americans that visions of reality can exist in which the NRA does not promote violence, but Black Lives Matter does.

The popularity of the notion that Black Lives Matter as a movement regularly and openly promotes anti-police violence may help explain why such a high percentage of the tweets in this sample, 26%, included people sharing external links to articles and videos related to the movement (Table 9). It seems that in the face of frames which are removed from a place of plausibility many people double-down on the value of critical inquiry and factual knowledge. But when this theme is considered in conjunction with the previously discussed notions of irony and frustration felt by many members and supporters of the

Movement for Black Lives, one can begin to identify cause for concern. Individuals who are either oblivious or indifferent to the reality that any Black political group that was openly advocating for violence against law enforcement would have been snuffed out a long time ago are given equal or greater ability to shape the narratives around entities such as Black Lives Matter as people who have committed their lives to the study of political movements. In this sense, the way that Black Lives Matter is discussed within academia and the media is a perfect example of how a lack of diversity of ideas within institutions can negatively affect the ability of these institutions to act and react to events which occur in society in a well-rounded and mindful way.

Colin Kaepernick

Theme 1: Protest is the reason he’s not playing

An overwhelming majority of the tweets in the sample presented claims based on the premise that were it not for Colin Kaepernick’s decision to begin protesting systemic racism, he would still be playing in the NFL today (Table 12). Some framings reflective of this theme focused on the idea that it is the fault of the NFL owner’s that Kaepernick is

78 not currently in the league while others located the ostracizing of Kaepernick within larger patterns of systemic discrimination and disenfranchisement.

“Still sad that people despise Colin Kaepernick all because of the certain way he

decided to raise awareness about police brutality” – 1:38 AM, March 25th, 2018

“I'd rather Colin Kaepernick be in control of trumps football than trump in charge

of Colin's politics” – 4:41 PM, March 25th, 2018

“How many more #StephonClark do we need before (we) America are awaken to

these tragedies. When will #BlackLivesMatter this is why Colin Kaepernick

kneeled and is currently NOT in the league b/c of his kneeling. Btw,

#StephonClark was shot 20 times, he was holding a cell phone.” – 7:50 PM,

March 24th, 2018

“if only colin kaepernick recv'd 1/10th the same reverence, respect, and support

as... nvm this IS America” – 8:37 PM, March 25th, 2018

The fact that 14% of the tweets in the sample explicitly defended or justified

Kaepernick’s activism is reflective of the belief that Kaepernick is no longer playing for political reasons (Table 14). In conjunction with this, many of the tweets within the 12% of the sample which went out of their way to explicitly reference Kaepernick’s on-field

79 playing abilities and accolades also made reference to his social activism, even if that was not the primary focus of the tweet. It was often tweets which framed the issue from a more sports-centered perspective that would use the most explicit and disapproving language towards the NFL as a league for having marginalized Colin Kaepernick and other socially engaged players. In contrast, it was usually tweeters who were approaching the subject from more of a social justice perspective that expressed higher levels of pessimism surrounding the whole issue. Framings which located Kaepernick’s plight within the larger history of anti-Black racism and the stamping out of social activism were more likely to reflect feelings of apathy or hopelessness.

The variety of framings which Kaepernick’s supporters evoke while defending him are reflective of exactly the polarizing figure which Kaepernick has become. The framings present in this sample reflect the reality that Colin Kaepernick has in many ways transcended his existence as a mere professional athlete. In many ways Kaepernick and his story have become symbolic of the larger struggle against systemic racial inequality. This helps explain why he has become a rallying symbol for both people who are concerned with issues of racism within the realm of sports, and people who do not know a safety from an illegal screen. For the foreseeable future, any professional athlete who becomes embroiled in any type of controversy and ultimately receives a second- chance will inevitably be compared to Colin Kaepernick. In this way Colin Kaepernick and his career’s legacy will be inseparable from its political ramifications, similarly to other athletes such as Muhammad Ali and Billie Jean King. Regardless of the exact arguments made, almost all framings related to the idea that Kaepernick is being

80 blackballed from the NFL center on the premise that it is actually his activism, and not his playing ability that is keeping him unemployed. In this way Kaepernick has transcended the world of sports and truly become a political figure.

Theme 2: He deserves to be out of the NFL

For detractors of Colin Kaepernick, his athletic ability and his stance on social issues are considered with similar levels of weight when pinpointing why exactly Colin

Kaepernick is no longer in the NFL. Framings which were critical of Kaepernick often pointed directly to his decision to kneel during the national anthem as a legitimate reason for his being unemployed. In this way, these framings echoed many of the sentiments expressed by tweeters in Theme 1. Within the sample, framings which pointed to

Kaepernick’s activism as the reason for his being unemployed, framings which pointed to a lack of or a decline in athletic ability as the primary reason, and framings which generally demonized Kaepernick without explicitly making a distinction between his professional ability and his political beliefs all appeared at similar levels.

“I can’t believe kneeling for the national anthem is what sidelined Colin

Kaepernick and not his poor on field skills” – 12:18 PM, March 25th, 2018

“Colin Kaepernick can go to hell... disrespecting our troops! FU Colin!” – 4:27

PM, March 25th, 2018

“No not really, Colin Kaepernick is the only qb to ever be sacked more times in a

game than yards he threw for. 2016 season, week 13 against the bears he

completed one pass for 4 yards and was sacked 5 times.” – 8:32 PM, March 25th,

2018

“colin kaepernick just another crying little bitch. the moment he wasn't the

starting qb for the 49ers he started his bullshit protesting.” 2:57 AM, March 25th,

2018

In many ways, it can be argued that Colin Kaepernick’s career has fallen victim to identity politics. His detractors do not go out of their way to distinguish between how they feel about his politics and how they feel towards his ability to make a living. The irony is that this type of reductive thinking, ‘Colin Kaepernick is a bad guy so it doesn’t matter what happens to him’ is the exact type of thinking which critics of “identity politics” abhor. People like Jeff Sessions and Glenn Beck argue that Richard Spencer not being allowed to speak on college campuses is a free-speech issue while also agreeing that Colin Kaepernick shouldn’t be in the NFL currently. While these types of framings only made up about 10% of the tweets in the sample, public opinion polling suggests that a majority of Americans have adopted an adversarial view towards Kaepernick. It does not matter that Colin Kaepernick sat and talked with military veterans and then adjusted his form of protest, in the eyes of many Kaepernick represents disrespect for the military and police. It does not matter that in the time since Kaepernick began his protest many

82 other athletes have become much more socially engaged and philanthropic (Munshi

2017; Stites 2017), for many Kaepernick will always have been kneeling for no legitimate reason.

Theme 3: Johnny Football and other athletes

The last theme and the theme that dominates the sample of tweets related to

Kaepernick is reflective of how the presence of whiteness in any space, be it physical or mental, can suck up all of the attention and air in the proverbial room. Of the 455 tweets within the Colin Kaepernick sample which were analyzed over 60% of these tweets made reference to other athletic figures (Table 12). An overwhelming majority of these tweets focused on Johnny Manzeil’s March 24 public comments in support of Kaepernick.

“I thought y'all was all for #Manziel? Now that he publicly supported #kaepernick

and said he's being punished for non football reasons, y'all don't want to hear from

him now. Hmmm. So you're saying you only like people who say what you want

to hear?” – 9:55 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Johnny Manziel has a more thoughtful, nuanced opinion on Colin Kaepernick

than half the country.” – 5:07 AM, March 25th, 2018

“Colin Kaepernick got support today from an alcoholic who couldn’t stay sober

enough to last through 3 seasons in @NFL with those criminals. What a ringing

endorsement, but twitter is trending it. No one wants cancer in their room. Get

it?? #BoycottNFL” – 1:11 AM, March 25th, 2018

“Johnny Manziel salutes Colin Kaepernick WHO ACTUALLY GIVES A DAMN

ABOUT WHAT THIS CLOWN HAS TO SAY? Shut up Johnny, and go sell

shoes” – 5:15 PM, March 25th, 2018

The fervor with which both supporters and detractors of Colin Kaepernick latched onto Manziel’s comments is reflective of the ways in which White voices have a disproportionate impact to Black actions in the ability to shape and push narratives.

Manziel is far from the first athlete to lend his public support to Kaepernick, but the reality that Johnny Manziel is a young, White, unemployed player who plays the same position as Colin Kaepernick lends itself to these comments causing a frenzy amongst media members and everyday tweeters alike. I think most supporters of Kaepernick would probably agree with most if not all of what Manziel said, the question is really why do these comments gain so much more traction when offered by someone like

Manziel than when offered by Black players.

The other side of this coin is the reality that for many members of society, public support of Kaepernick should disqualify Manziel from having any future playing professional football. The frames used to chastise or condemn Manziel for his comments often made allusions to the existence of larger conspiracies, propagated by the media, to bring attention to Kaepernick and/or the NFL. People who employ these frames don’t

84 seem bothered by questions surrounding how this type of attention is actually good for the NFL or why if there is all this institutional support for Kaepernick, he remains unemployed. Opinions of Johnny Manziel, Eric Reid, or other athletes who explicitly lend their support to Colin Kaepernick become automatically dismissed by people who have decided that Kaepernick is misinformed and ill-intentioned.

Besides references to Johnny Manziel and his comments, many of the other tweets in this sample referred to Kaepernick in reference to other athletes. Many tweeters asked questions concerning why other NFL players suspected or convicted of previous criminal activity are still in the league while Kaepernick is not. Other framings focused on the idea that there are other quarterbacks with less skill than Kaepernick who are still employed because they are uncontroversial. At other times, it was explicit statements of support from fellow athletes, former and current, which prompted people to reference, defend, or critique Kaepernick.

“The @NFL and its owners continue to allow a man who seemingly gets arrested

monthly (Aldon Smith) in its league but try to stand up for injustice and you are

black balled from the league (Colin Kaepernick). I think I'm done with the NFL

as should be everyone to be honest.” – 8:00 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Michael Bennett's publisher says that athletes have been targeted for speaking

out against racism and police brutality, from “blackballing” Colin Kaepernick to

teens kicked off their teams for protesting during the anthem—and now a charge

against Bennett” – 4:33 PM, March 24th, 2018

“We all know it. Now make it right. @NFL @Kaepernick7 @E_Reid35 NFL

Players Coalition agrees: Eric Reid, Colin Kaepernick out of work for being

'outspoken'” – 3:35 PM, March 24th, 2018

“Abdul-Jabbar on his first political protest, shortly after the slaying of Martin

Luther King Jr. "People said 'Hey, you're going to the NBA, why are you

complaining?' My protest had to do with the assassination, they didn't want to

acknowledge that." – 5:15 PM, March 25th, 2018

The above tweets illustrate the ways in which Kaepernick and his plight now serves a very important role within the larger sports lexicon. The idea of Colin

Kaepernick can now be used to warn athletes or other entertainers of the potential perils associated with standing up for social justice. Even though he has not played in a professional NFL game in over eighteen months his name is still being evoked by both current and former athletes. In many ways Kaepernick has transcended the game of football, yet his connection to the world of sports will never be dissolved. Whenever quarterbacks of questionable ability or players of questionable character are signed to

NFL contracts there will be people calling foul. I suspect that as history progresses,

Kaepernick and his ongoing story will become a common reference point for thinkers

86 looking to analyze the intersections of social activism, popular culture, and prevailing racial narratives.

CONCLUSION

With this study, I set out to evaluate the ways in which different types of social movements are framed and portrayed in the current climate. I have found that portrayals of modern social movements and political figures are still overwhelmingly informed by hegemonic notions of legitimacy. Oftentimes the ideas of Nazi’s and Nazi sympathizers are often treated with a certain level of respect that is absent in discussions of figures associated with Black Lives Matter. The ways in which concepts of identity and political legitimacy are presently understood in society directly facilitate the framings and portrayals that currently dominate people’s political understandings.

The idea that identity politics are inherently divisive requires a very minuet understanding of how political organizing and political movements actually work and develop. This notion only makes sense if we believe that individuals only support or participate in movements which they perceive as having a direct benefit for them. These benefits are more often than not understood within the context of long-established and perpetuated narratives concerning race in society (Bell 1995). From this perspective,

Black lives mattering, to a greater degree than they have historically, innately means

White lives mattering less. This is the same frame of mind which develops calls for

“National Men’s Day” in response to a holiday which looks to celebrate women, or

“Straight Pride Parades” as reactions to growing LGBTQ+ representation in society.

Much of the opposition to modern, highly visible identity movements are steeped in understandings of privilege as a finite concept and politics as a zero-sum game. It is only through this flawed understanding of the realities of identity organizing that the afore

88 mentioned disdain for identity politics can truly make sense. With this being said, over

20% of the tweets analyzed in the “identity politics” sample expressing this sentiment utilized these types of framings.

If we remember the origins of the term “identity politics”, as explained by the

Combahee River Collective (1977), then we can easily move beyond this limited understanding. The queer Black women who first coined the phrase identity politics were not doing so out of an over-sized sense of self-importance, but more based on a recognition of the ways in social forces such White Supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism exist simultaneously. It was based on this recognition that these women, with their specific and overlapping marginalized identities, made the explicit connection between the liberation of Black women and the attainment of equity and justice on the societal level. The CRC had to take the initiative to start their group because in their eyes the organizing that was already taking place wasn’t doing enough to center their concerns. This is how movements start, people who feel the need to organize based on a desire to accomplish specific goals. For these women, organizing is a non-zero-sum game, and it is this understanding that can allow for allyship and collaboration between very different groups and organizations.

The way the concept of identity politics is widely understood in the modern context is incredibly reflective of some of the larger issues hampering present day discourse. In the literal midst of a modern-day presidency built on xenophobic, exclusionary notions of Americaness, there is a prevailing belief that only individuals who hold identities outside of traditionally understood White Americaness organize

89 based on the notion of shared identity. This premise was supported by the proportion of tweets related to the concept of identity politics that expressed a negative sentiment towards the concept itself, or the people who are perceived to commonly engage in the practice. The fact that this antagonistic stance towards non-majoritarian politics is widely replicated and built upon throughout institutions such as academia and the media only serve to reinforce a level of skepticism in these institutions amongst people holding traditionally marginalized identities. In this way, there is a perpetual political reality which pits people who ae intent on centering the needs and concerns of the marginalized against people who are convinced that centering the needs of the marginalized is tantamount to the intentional oppression and marginalization of the traditional White,

Christian majority.

There is an intense irony in the frequency of critiques devoted to actions such as no-platforming Neo-Nazis on college campuses or calls for more diverse political representation at the same time that White Supremacist violence is on the rise and levels of representation within the federal government are declining. The speakers who have been shut down by protestors on campuses such as Berkeley have primarily been advocating for or promoting ideas which reinforce traditional instances of marginalization. In other words, college students aren’t shutting down speakers because these speakers want to advocate for the little guy. In an era where the president’s executive cabinet is more White and male than it has been in decades (Lee 2017), one must question the sincerity of those who argue that the Christian White male is under attack in present day America. That is what makes choices such as the ACLU’s defense

90 of Nazi’s so troubling for those who prioritize the continued existence and rights of people not born with layers and layers of ascribed social privilege (Pearce et. al 2017). In an ideal world, everyone would be able to express their mind freely, but in a reality where non-violently protesting for the end of extrajudicial police murders can cost people jobs is it really logical or responsible to spend time or resources advocating for the free-speech rights of the likes of Richard Spencer?

The prominent themes present in discussions which take place around Richard

Spencer and the larger Alt-right movement reveal the contradictions which permeate most discussions centered on these figures. On one hand, many thinkers and writers will tell you that the Alt-right has very little actual power and should not be taken seriously or literally. This premise is reflected in the sheer number of jokes and satirical references

(over a quarter of the tweets in the Richard Spencer sample openly mocked him) about the Alt-right and its figures that are made in spaces such as Twitter. In a general sense the

Alt-right is not being treated in a way that suggests the movement is viewed as a credible threat to the future of representative democracy and the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic groups within countries such as the United States. On the other hand, individuals such as Stephen Miller, Steve Bannon, and Richard Spencer possess real political and societal influence which yield real societal consequences. Media outlets such as Breitbart have real followings consisting of real people. Stephen Miller possesses a key voice in the formation of policy and rhetoric within the White House in relation to issues such as immigration and international trade. A failure to acknowledge the tangible and potential

91 catastrophic effects which these ideas and the people who perpetuate them are having on society may be tantamount to flat-out ignoring the canary in the coalmine.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that any one aspect of one’s identity, racial or otherwise, will automatically determine a person’s perception of the Alt-right. However, I also believe that it is not a coincidence that individuals who possess identities which have historically directly conflicted with the tenants of Nazism (i.e. ethnic minorities, sexual minorities, etc.) are much more likely to find themselves explicitly politically opposed to the Alt-right and similar movements in 2018. I do not believe that we as a society can or should afford to waste time or energy debating the rights to free-speech or style choices of modern Nazi’s in a society where people are still killed every day for possessing the audacity to exist while holding marginalized identity statuses. Until the world is actually physically safe for society’s oppressed, then all hypothetical conversations centered on the concerns or feelings of members of the Alt-right should be shelfed.

I wouldn’t have written this thesis on this topic if at least to some degree the Alt- right and Black Lives Matter had not found success in enacting influence on a societal level. I feel that the results of my analysis reflect the reality that, despite centuries long histories of global anti-Blackness, Black Lives Matter has truly become engrained within the fabric of society in the same way that the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s has become synonymous with ideas of civil disobedience. It seems that moving forward researchers needn’t consider whether or not people will continue to think about or discuss

Black Lives Matter. Instead we should focus on the ways in which Black Lives Matter and its associated figures have and will continue to affect the ways in which all

92 conversations play out throughout society. In other words, if we are not living in a “Post-

BLM world”, we are at the very least living within a political moment which has been heavily shaped by the movement, its beliefs, and its actions. Black Lives Matter has been successful in shifting the Overton window concerning not just instances of police violence against Black and brown bodies, but generally regarding the ways in which people understand and discuss instances of racial oppression within the modern context.

The discussions which take place around Colin Kaepernick reveal the multitude of ways in which Black Lives Matter has permanently altered national and international consciousness even while being subjected to intense scrutiny and criticism. The fact that a large percentage of the country actively locates Colin Kaepernick and his story within a larger narrative related to the oppression and marginalization of Black people within

America is a testament to Black Lives Matter’s ability to affect the larger consciousness surrounding not just issues of racism, but also the subsequent treatment of individuals who dare speak out against instances of injustice. There were always going to be people who questioned or disagreed with Kaepernick’s choice to protest, there has never been an effective or necessary protest which was also universally lauded. But the fact that so many people have clear understandings of exactly why Kaepernick felt it necessary to risk his financial well-being to speak up illustrates that Black Lives Matter continues to push common perceptions related to the prevalence and impact of racial inequality. From this perspective, I would view many of the findings reported in this work as relevant for anyone who is invested in the future of Black liberation in America. While these numbers

93 are not astronomical, it is important to remember that minority rights are rarely supported by the majority.

With all of this being said, there are levels of empathy embedded in the framings associated with movements such as the Alt-right that are abundantly absent in framings of non-majoritarian movements. I believe that in a culture literally built on White

Supremacy, that one cannot reasonably disassociate histories of marginalization from the consistently presented notion that modern day minorities would be less interested in

“identity movements” if they just knew a little bit better. On one hand, there is an inordinate amount of energy being spent in society parsing out the difference between someone who believes in White Supremacist ideas, and someone who is actual a White

Supremacist. People get onto Twitter every day to explain the difference between someone who harmlessly espouses Neo-Nazi rhetoric and someone who should actually be considered a threat. However, these same types of distinctions are rarely applied to movements or individuals which represent the interests of marginalized people. There were few to no tweets looking to distinguish between individuals who advocate for racial equality, and people who are in fact anti-police. Even the frame which claims that

Kaepernick “has a point but should have picked a better method” seems to be less popular than arguments which question his moral fiber and intelligence on a whole.

In many ways, the Alt-right and Black Lives Matter movements represent opposite sides of the same coin. Both groups are calling for the explicit acknowledgement of the role which racial identity has, and should play in future societal relations. In this way, both of these movements are attempting to push society away from “color-blind”

94 ideology. BLM takes the stance that it is only through an explicit recognition of the role which race has played in historical and modern relations that individuals and societies can begin to reverse trends of discrimination and inequality. Black Lives Matter positions this recognition as necessary for the goal of equity. On the other hand, the Alt-right is operating based on the idea that individuals who possess traditionally privileged identities

(White, male, heterosexual) are now under a concerted and organized attack. So, in this sense, on the most fundamental level, individuals who draw comparisons between the

Alt-right and movements centered around racial justice are on to something. Where I feel the current narrative falls short is in acknowledging that a movement which calls for more equitable treatment of racial minorities in a multi-ethnic society is fundamentally different in intent and potential impact that a movement which calls for the existence of a mono-ethnic state within a presently multi-ethnic society. To treat movements such as the

Alt-right and movements such as Black Lives Matter as purely analogous is to treat claims that everyone has the right to fair treatment, regardless of ethnic identity, as intellectually and morally equivalent to claims of White Supremacy.

As sociologists, we possess a duty to both deconstruct and provide tools to counteract current inadequacies found in conversations centering on present social movements and figures. It can be difficult to do research using data such as tweets due to questions regarding the identity of posters, the validity of metadata, and the generalizability of findings. Proficient analysis of Twitter data takes planning, time, and familiarity with the platform. With all of this being said there is still a great deal of value in future research which focuses on other sports figures like Kaepernick whose legacies

95 and likelihoods have become inherently political. Similar to how recent studies are comparing modern framings of Black Lives Matter to historical framings of the Civil

Rights Movement, framings of Kaepernick could and should be compared to framings of individuals from the world of sports such as Muhammad Ali, Serena Williams, and

Michael Sam. In order to deconstruct the ways in which whiteness and maleness can insulate individuals from legitimate and critique, framings of Richard Spencer could be compared to framings of other figures such as Andrew Jackson, Glen Beck, and Steve

Bannon. Twitter represents a great forum for this type of research moving forward because while not entirely egalitarian, Twitter is a forum where individuals who hold less traditionally privileged identities have more of a voice and an ability to shape and challenge prevailing narratives. Studies which employ similar methodologies to this one but over the course of a larger time period can help us to understand how the framings of political movements and figures evolve over time.

Ultimately, I hope this research has added to the base of knowledge surrounding social movements and identity politics. I hope that readers walk away from this work reflecting on the ways in which larger social forces affect portrayals and framings of social movements. The reality is that figures who advocate for the marginalized face challenges and critiques not offered towards individuals who advocate for the majority.

As sociologists, we can assist in removing some of the structural barriers which serve to blunt the impact of figures such as Colin Kaepernick on society.

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