The Deconstruction of a White Supremecist
Chris Cantwell was the focus of a “Vice” News story covering the Charlottesville protests and violence. In the video he boasts of going to the gym to get strong to “be capable of more violence”, he shows off all the weapons he has on his person, and says as many racist things as any one person could possibly say in 20 minutes.
At one point in the video, Cantwell states that he wants someone in the White House much more racist than Trump in the White House, “someone that wouldn’t give his daughter to a Jew”. Yeah so this guy is a special type of asshole.
In the video he has followers, groupies, fans that support him, defend him, and agree with him. He has people rooting for him. These followers help to inflate his ego, and give him added confidence in his nonsensical arguments on race and the direction of the country.
By now you probably know Cantwell has warrants out for his arrest for his actions in Charlottesville. You probably already know about his YouTube videos with him crying because he’s scared of being arrested and people coming after him, who, wait for it… don’t like him. In his words, “our enemies just won’t stop”.
Cantwell does not represent all white people or even all white supremacists, but he can be used to provide perspective on how Trump was elected and why his base continues to support him. Cantwell is a person who had little direction or purpose before he allowed the ideas of racism and fascism control his life. He had not achieved any respectable level of success to that point and needed someone or thing to blame it on.
He couldn’t look within himself, at his own short comings, but had to project that anger and frustration outward. His frustration and rage was based essentially in nothing, which is why when he faced true adversity, such as a felony warrant for his arrest, he folded. His foundation was built on nothing, therefore he had nothing to stand on when things got tough.
Having a direction in life is important, having principles is important, being a good person to those around you is important. Be a good person, be a good person that has a decent heart and common sense… Don’t be an asshole, don’t be like Chris Cantwell.
The white supremacists, nationalists and far-right trolls who starred in last weekend’s violent Charlottesville rallies have suffered no lack of humiliation in the days since.
Take “Millennial Matt,” whose catchphrase — “Hitler did nothing wrong!” — earned him tens of thousands of fans before he went to the rally, but his Twitter account has since been deleted, his real identity publicized, and he is now begging fans for money to flee his hometown because “my life is in shambles.”
There are plenty of other examples, from the hot dog restaurant cook who lost his job to students whose universities publicly renounced racism after they went to the march. There’s even a Twitter feed devoted to shaming the tiki-torch-lit faces of white nationalism.
But none of the marchers soared so high or crashed so hard as Chris Cantwell, who became the ivory-skinned, gun-toting star of a documentary about Charlottesville that aired Monday on HBO — and a week later is better known as the “weepy white supremacist” or “weeping Nazi” who got banned from OkCupid.
For a few triumphant hours, Cantwell was the thick-armed embodiment of white nationalism to tens of millions of people — the star of VICE News and HBO’s Web documentary about last weekend’s rallies, which has been seen more than 30 million times.
He looked every bit the rebel leader in that footage from Friday night and Saturday, greeting other white nationalists from as far away as Canada; marching by torchlight to the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee; screaming “Jews will not replace us!”
“I carry a pistol. I go to the gym all the time,” Cantwell tells the camera, muscles bulging beneath a shirt that advertises his blog, which in turn advertises Cantwell as a libertarian “fascist.”
“I’m trying to make myself more capable of violence!” he says.
And violence there was. Men in the streets of Charlottesville wielding Confederate flags like spears. A black man beaten by white men with sticks. Heather Heyer, killed when a car rammed a crowd of counterprotesters, as 19 others were injured.
“Communists!” he yells, pouring a jug of milk over his eyes after, he says, counterprotesters hit him with tear gas. “Second time in two f—ing days!”
“They’re afraid of you. You got too big,” an admirer tells him.
And then the self-avowed fascist was back on his feet and leading a march shirtless, a few cans short of a six-pack gleaming in the weekend sun.
“We’ll f—ing kill these people if we have to,” Cantwell says.
Cantwell’s bravado only increased over the weekend, as news of the violence spread across the country.
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
