Minding own business is a lost art

— Three groups converged at the Lincoln Memorial. The truth of what happened on January 18 is available, but whether one believes it or not appears rooted in political ideology. Photos, videos, articles and memes continue to trend on social media. Credible news organizations reported what they thought was true and issued corrections later as new information emerged. Less than credible sources stood by their misinformation.

When I first saw the news reports, I admit feeling horrified over a bunch of white boys harassing an older, Native American war veteran. The man was portrayed as. Vietnam War hero. But, that’s not what happened.

A group from Covington Boys Catholic High School in Park Hills, Ky., traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in March for Life and were waiting for the bus that was to take them home. Nearby, a group identifying as Black Hebrew Israelites were protesting. And a group of Native Americans were participating in an Indigenous People’s March.

As more video became available, media outlets reported the incident began when the small group of Black Hebrew Israelites began making racial and homophobic insults at the boys and calling them “incest babies” and school shooters. The one African-American student in the group was told that his white classmates were going to harvest his organs. The kids began chanting school slogans in what they claim was an effort to drown them out.

Nathan Phillips, the Native American elder approached the boys, according to him to defuse the situation. He didn’t appear to say anything, just beat his ceremonial drum. Phillips is a regular at rallies and protests.

So there were the boys wearing pro-President Donald Trump Make America Great Again garb (perceived by some as a new symbol of white nationalism/supremacy), chanting and smirking. Many, including the students’ own school, condemned the boys’ behavior as disrespectful.

Phillips later clarified that it was he who had approached the crowd and that he had intervened because racial tensions — mainly between the students and black men who made comments — were “coming to a boiling point.” He has offered more than one account of the incident to different media organizations. And he is not a Vietnam war hero, as tribal leaders claimed.

According to the Washington Post, which corrected initial reports, Phillips served from June 1972 to May 1976 in the Marine Corps Reserve. A service spokeswoman, Yvonne Carlock, told the newspaper Phillips did not deploy, and he left the service as a private after disciplinary issues.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks hate groups in America, reports that Black Hebrew Israelites are a black nationalist theology that dates back to the 19th century. It is a counter theology to Christian Identity, embraced by some white supremacists. A SPLC article stated, “Although most Hebrew Israelites are neither explicitly racist nor anti-Semitic and do not advocate violence, there is a rising extremist sector within the Hebrew Israelite movement whose adherents believe that Jews are devilish impostors and who openly condemn whites as evil personified, deserving only death or slavery.”

These three groups converged. They each responded to one another. They all deny inappropriate actions.

My take away from all of this: what if groups went to Washington -- or wherever -- and participated in their own events and allowed others to do the same? You know, thought about the implications of their actions/reactions; peacefully assembled; were respectful; exercised their rights and, didn’t interject themselves into other people’s activities (regardless of intentions). And what if media organizations didn’t elevate non-issues into national news items? And what if we all took some responsibility and considered what we spread and perpetuate?

Back in the day, we called that minding our own business. It is a lost art.

(Shea Wilson is the former managing editor of the El Dorado News-Times. Email her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter.com @sheawilson7.)

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