Exactly my point. Nobody today would be trying to split hairs on optics if they saw some white nationalists 'reclaiming' confederate flags and telling everyone they aren't racist though, let's be reality.
Despite the optics and distrust from some other Panthers, a group that sprang from those communities could easily be characterized as white supremacists, were not.
I feel you in terms of not making assumptions, but I also think that a group like the Boogaloo Boys which is disorganized and has had recklessly violent incidents would be denied. Not just for the presence of some racists, but because those dudes could be problematic even showing up with the best intentions.
To give an example, I quickly lost any appreciation for their presence at BLM protests as an act of solidarity because it coincided with potential terror plots and plots of violence against police that was then propagandized against BLM. Since everything gets propagandized whenever we fight for Civil Rights (slightly exaggerated maybe? but you know what I mean), having a group that is vocally accelerationist toward a war would be dangerous. Basically, this is as much a media critique as anything. Those guys could do some dumb ish and it would be used to reflect on the protests, they would receive blowback but the BLM movement would take as big if not an even bigger hit. I think that same dynamic would exist if they joined in with the Panthers.
Lemme add that your bolded below makes me think you have a similar viewpoint here. But I like to add the real example just to have a more concrete understanding of where I'm coming at the issue.
The Magnus cat on Jimmy's show stated it as well that white supremacist groups did start co-opting the movement and as they got de-platformed on to creepy shyt like Parlor it got harder to control.
Yeah fam, and to expand on that, we've seen this sort of infiltration and co-opting by the alt-right before. I think this fits the pattern of Gamer Gate and the expansions on the Q conspiracy. They were edgy but more in the meme lane and then they blew up with backing from a darker place. Edgy starts to turn extreme and well-meaning members are either pushed out or pulled across that edge. To be fair, I don't know any Boogaloo folks personally. I saw this whole red pill, alt-right pipeline thing play out with people I knew when those other two examples happened. But I feel like this has a similar pattern.
I'm all for skepticism, of those messengers and especially the media's reporting on them if they're going to be calling for class solidarity because I know that's the LAST thing they want.
Also be clear, being open to listen to, vote with, agree to advocate for policy with, is different from marching around with these a$$holes. I have no interest in that.
This bold is absolutely key. I was trying to find it, but I swear I'd seen that the YP had to disavow any racism before getting into the room. I think with these Boogaloo cats, they'd have to straight up disavow the Boogaloo part. That's not to say they'd have to disavow their pro-gun stances or anything (of course not), but the "seeking a civil war" ish is a bridge too far. To me, any approach to a group like the Boogaloo Boys would be less about platforming them as Jimmy Dore did and much more about being strategic and peeling out the more left-minded groups that have emerged.
But I'm speculating there. I'm not really qualified to know how that sort of strategy would lay out and the organizer types that I either know, follow, or watch have pretty much to a man come across with a sense of "that wouldn't be worth it when we could focus elsewhere." I do think creating pipelines to dig these people out is a good idea. But to my mind, the risk outweighs the benefits with an armed group that originates from such rightwing foundations.
These two bolded assertions aren't remotely the same...
. "Fred Hampton wasn't cool with white supremacists" is a pretty straight forward assertion.
