(click on the images for the full version)
it is unarguable that fear and race have been involved in a very happy marriage for quite some time. just look at some of the stereotypes to get a good idea of racialized fear: men of color are rapists, young Black and Latino men are gang members, Arabs are terrorists, etc. you can also look at how the media frames things: Affirmative Action is taking jobs from better qualified White workers, Latino immigrants are stealing jobs, Black people trying to get food after Hurricane Katrina were looters, and so forth.
although i poked fun at the publication of the NRA, Freedom in Peril, that was recently leaked to the Wonkette blog, its also a serious matter. in addition to painting animal rights activists as bomb-toting terrorists, the booklet makes heavy use of racialized fears to drive people into a gun-toting frenzy for freedom. the truly disturbing thing is that this book seem to be targeted towards adolescents and young adults.
i won’t get too into the details of this booklet (yet), since i’m on a deadline here for the erase racism carnival. but i wanted to take a moment and point out the trends.
The Good Guys
the book starts off letting us know who the good guys are. being written by the NRA, of course the protagonist in this story are the guys at the NRA. these two guys set the standard for the rest of the story, too. the standard being that the protagonists are always White. As you can see from the image, they are all-american; complete with capitol building, waves of grain, and an artistic style that sets them apart from the rest (a style that seems to suggest that these guys are as old as the US itself).
The Bad Guys
Although there are some White people in this story that are portrayed as the antagonists, they are awarded individuality (they are specifically named when pictured: michael moore, nancy pelosi, john kerry, etc). with a couple of notable exceptions, the majority of people of color in this publication are not only portrayed as a threat, they are also faceless. they don’t stand for a few bad seeds, but rather as a generic standard. the booklet goes even further to claim that a major threat are illegal immigrants, who are seemingly all involved with gangs. it is reminiscent of the old stereotype that all Italian or Irish immigrants were brutal gang members. i suppose scapegoating has to remain fluid because people eventually figure out the lies.
blurring the lines
there are a couple of occasions in the publication where racial lines are blurred a bit. and as we know, when you can’t tell, you default to Other. the first example is with the man that the NRA seems to view as the mob boss. George Soros, who the NRA is quick to point out is Hungarian-born, receives his own chapter, which starts with this sinister image of him (doesn’t this look like a cartoon version of the godfather?) and an insinuation as to his traitor behavior (stating he made his money on american capitalism and is now bankrolling the collapse of american freedoms).
another example of these blurred lines is with the NRA’s vision of the media. while i agree with the NRA’s condemnation of the media’s focus on violence, i suspect their reasons are selfish. seeing as to how much of that violence is carried out with guns. and my vision of who contols the media certainly isn’t some angry, aztec god-looking red head with flames coming out its mouth. and notice the folks being terrorized by the media… a defenseless White family.
The Victims
the NRA seems to have a hard time deciding if law enforcement is their friend or their enemy and they are portrayed as both in this booklet. i suppose it depends on which image will help their fundraising efforts. but one thing is for sure, without exception, the victims in this book are always White. therefore, when it comes to immigration, the cops are apparently the good guys. but they are also the victims of anti-americanism (read: gun restrictions). according to this booklet, such laws are the reasons that cops can’t do their job to protect US citizens from the (dark) illegal alien gangs that are ruling the streets with terror. essentially, the good White cops are being gagged and bound while the darkies rule with lawlessness and an army of slaves (seriously).
in addition to immigration, the NRA makes wide use of the imagery of Hurricane Katrina. funny thing is, this was another area where i sort of agreed with their stance. i was horrified when i saw the government sending in troops to enforce a police state rather than to help the thousands of people in need. but apparently i was watching a different news report than the folks at the NRA. cuz the faces with M-16s shoved in their faces that i saw were all Black faces. i’ve scanned my brain and the only image of an elderly womyn in that situation that is burned in my memory is that of the dead Black womyn in the wheelchair sitting outside the stadium with a blanket over her. i don’t remember anyone resembling my grandmother having twenty cops piled on top of her with guns pointing at her head.
The Coming Storm
the booklet ends with a simple message: illegal immigrants, wealthy liberals, media activists, Black mayors, animal rights activists and other undesirable anti-americans will soon do to White people what Hurricane Katrina did to Black folks. unless, whitey, you arm yourself.
For more info on this booklet’s controversy, check out boing boing (and part 2) and easyVegan.info
For archiving purposes, i’m now hosting the PDF of this booklet. Feel free to download it in all its glory.
