Culture Feature
Why Terry Crews' "Black Supremacy" Stance Makes No Sense
For "black supremacy" to exist, the entirety of Western history would need to change.
06.08.2020
UPDATE July 2020: Unfortunately, the massive backlash to Terry Crews' prior "Black Supremacy" tweet in early June seemed to teach him nothing.
Terry Crews is back at it again, posting to Twitter his new acronym for "coon": "Conquer Our Own Negativity." The message furthers Crew's strange warnings about the Black Lives Matter movement leading to a form of "Black supremacy," a view he's been vocal about since early June.
Again, Terry, "black supremacy" and "#blacklivesbetter" are not valid concerns. Nobody is saying or suggesting either of those things. You have a massive platform and a voice that many people look to for guidance. Instead of using that platform to push respectability politics and fictional notions of "black supremacy," why not promote the Black community's basic human rights in America?
The core question is: Who do you think of when you dance, Terry?!
Terry Crews at the next Trump Rally https://t.co/jHjEwClY2l— Dwayne “Deascent” Gittens (@Dwayne “Deascent” Gittens)1595958315.0
It began in late June, when Crews tweeted, "We must ensure #blacklivesmatter doesn't morph into #blacklivesbetter."<div></div><div id="5f914" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e8488d63c0dceca13881248fe71cd557"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1277955144332668930" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">If you are a child of God, you are my brother and sister. I have family of every race, creed and ideology.
We must… https://t.co/3kk1HXp5QH</div> — terry crews (@terry crews)<a href="https://twitter.com/terrycrews/statuses/1277955144332668930">1593523224.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Like, dude, Terry, man. Come on. We're still at the point where Black people are protesting for the basic human right of not being murdered by police in the street on a frequent basis.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p><strong>Prior to this spate of strange tweets, Terry Crews always seemed like a really great guy.</strong><strong></strong></p><p>Alongside stepping up as one of the most prominent <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/10/metoo-male-accusers-terry-crews-alex-winter-michael-gaston-interview" target="_blank">male voices</a> behind the #MeToo movement, Terry Crews is also known for going above and beyond for his fans (<a href="https://www.boredpanda.com/terry-crews-coolest-guy/" target="_blank">for example</a>, stepping in to give VISA express permission to let a girl get his face printed on her credit card). This is an important preface because the intent of this article is not to drag Terry Crews in any way, shape, or form. Everyone mis-words Tweets on occasion, and Terry Crews deserves the benefit of the doubt.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p>All that said, amidst the recent surge of Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality after the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a white cop, Terry Crews keeps writing tweets worthy of a <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8397767/Jodie-Turner-Smith-calls-Terry-Crews-controversial-black-supremacy-tweet.html" target="_blank">good deal of backlash</a>: "Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth. Like it or not, we are all in this together."</p><div id="6f2b4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2de21731e8deedadcdf0d17a81353588"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269772603524169728" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Defeating White supremacy without White people creates Black supremacy. Equality is the truth.
Like it or not, we are all in this together.</div> — terry crews (@terry crews)<a href="https://twitter.com/terrycrews/statuses/1269772603524169728">1591572354.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Right off the bat, it's worth pointing out that it's very likely that Terry Crews' only intent was to call for togetherness amongst protestors and that he wasn't intending to draw an equivalency between white supremacy and some hypothetical notion of "black supremacy." But regardless of intent, Crews' tweet does draw that equivalency, and as such, his words warrant a response. Of course, many people on Twitter have already weighed in, with most of the responses focusing on how the very concept of "black supremacy" is a false start and how dangerous it is to the Black community for someone with as big a platform as Terry Crews to give credence to the idea.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><div id="61f9f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b8b8f31dbf04c6e689218ae3284f3a9b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269814689044856832" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@terrycrews So, brother: here's why your tweet is a problem:
1. Black supremacy isnt possible unless we rewrite th… https://t.co/PlNpr7HYRl</div> — Benjamin Dixon (@Benjamin Dixon)<a href="https://twitter.com/BenjaminPDixon/statuses/1269814689044856832">1591582388.0</a></blockquote></div><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script></center><br><p></p><p>The biggest issue with the idea of "Black supremacy" is that for supremacist ideologies to hold any weight, they needs to hinge on real-world, systemic power structures. White supremacist ideologies are dangerous because Western culture is largely built on white people's oppression of minority communities. From slavery to colonization, Western history is chock full of white people profiting from the pain and suffering of Black and brown people and, moreover, ensuring that race-based hierarchy continues to exist through institutional means. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>Sometimes these means of oppression are transparent, as they were with the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/reparations-slavery-are-only-way-fix-america-s-racial-wealth-ncna1225251" target="_blank">Jim Crow laws</a>, which enforced racial segregation in post-slavery America and stayed in effect from 1870 all the way until 1965. Other times, the systemic backing of white supremacy is less obvious, but still equally racist. Such was the case with stop-and-frisk programs, which gave cops the freedom to stop any civilian they thought seemed suspicious and ultimately incentivized racial profiling that <a href="https://www.nyclu.org/en/stop-and-frisk-data" target="_blank">targeted black and latinx</a> people for state-sanctioned harassment campaigns by police.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p>In short, for Black supremacy to exist, the entirety of Western history would need to change.</p><p>Sadly, understanding the far-spanning implications of racism in the West isn't exactly a strong suit for many Americans, and the danger in Terry Crews' bringing up a ridiculous concept like Black supremacy, inadvertent as it may be, is that ignorant, racist white people have inevitably begun to cling to it. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><div id="50639" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7893ce2e386289c4f942a1fd7b851737"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1269784787650318336" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@CindyHarriman @terrycrews Terry look what you did? You got this white girl thinking she’s oppressed</div> — Lexi❤️ (@Lexi❤️)<a href="https://twitter.com/adorelexiiiii/statuses/1269784787650318336">1591575259.0</a></blockquote></div><p>As a white person, it's hard to even fathom how someone could equate being called a "white cracker" to all of the myriad abuse that Black people continue to endure in America; but alas, that's the kind of discourse that mentioning "Black supremacy" elicits.</p><p>Terry Crews has since clarified his position while responding to <em>Everybody Hates Chris </em>star Tyler James Williams' gentle take. "I was not saying Black supremacy exists, because it doesn't," said Crews. "I am saying if both Black and Whites don't continue to work together--bad attitudes and resentments can create a dangerous self-righteousness. That's all."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>It's certainly nice to see Crews state outright that Black supremacy doesn't exist, but his follow-up about "dangerous self-righteousness" doesn't seem quite right either. Indeed, many POC voices on Twitter began to point out this unfortunate word choice.</p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- Popdust Mobile Banner 320x100 --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4301469008561137" data-ad-slot="6952751205"></ins><script>
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</script></center><p></p><p>Considering the fact that many white people are still shouting "All Lives Matter!" even after countless police murders of Black people, doesn't it make sense that some Black people would be wary of white America? Factoring in moderate white liberalism and performative wokeness on the parts of many white "allies," is it really fair to suggest that Black people who don't trust white people have "bad attitudes?" <br></p><h2></h2><div></div><h2></h2><h2></h2><h2></h2><p>That's not to say Black and white people shouldn't work together—of course, togetherness leads to progress. But white people have done incalculable damage to Black people throughout Western history, and the path to recovery is bound to be rocky. Assigning any of the blame to black people, even in a hypothetical capacity, is just plain wrong. </p>
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Lin Manuel-Miranda's Hamilton has taken the theater world by storm since its 2015 Broadway premiere.
A hip-hop musical about America's founding fathers doesn't sound immediately appealing, but Manuel-Miranda's brilliant song writing and diverse casting not only captured the attention of audiences, but proved that major change is possible within an art form as encumbered by traditions as musical theater.
<p>For most of us, being able to afford tickets to see the show in person has been a distant dream. Instead, we've obsessively listened to the cast recording, followed every new Hamilton performer on Instagram, and otherwise engaged with the show as much as possible without actually seeing it. </p><p>Finally, that's all about to change. Disney+ is bumping up the release of its recording of the musical by over a year. Instead of the planned theatrical release set for October 15th, 2021, it'll be out on July 3rd, 2020. That means we can all finally experience the glory of Aaron Burr's wrath from the comfort of our social isolation. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-632"></div>
<!-- End Ezoic - undersecond12 - under_second_paragraph --></p><p>With the acclaimed production finallu accessible to a wider audience, it's worth reflecting on the cultural impact of the mega hit. Obviously, when a show has this kind of reach, criticism is inevitable. In 2016, it was the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/no-the-hamilton-casting-call-for-non-white-actors-is-not-reverse-racism_n_56fd2c83e4b0daf53aeed9b9?ri18n=true" target="_blank"><u>Hamilton casting notice that specified "people of color"</u></a> that sparked controversy. Inevitably, people have also <a href="https://feministspectator.princeton.edu/2016/02/24/hamilton/" target="_blank"><u>questioned</u></a> the strength of Manuel-Miranda's female characters.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-634"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent11 - mid_content --></p><p>Firstly, <em>Hamilton</em> does not pass the Bechdel test. If you aren't unfamiliar with it, the Bechdel test was created by the comic artist and inspiration for the musical <em>Fun Home</em>, Alison Bechdel as a way to test a movie, TV show, or play. <a href="http://bechdeltest.com/" target="_blank"><u>The test</u></a> "…names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two named women in it, who (2) talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man."</p><p> <em>Hamilton</em> passes the first two criteria easily, though there are significantly fewer female characters than male (in fact only four named female characters compared to sixteen named male characters). These four female characters are the three Schuyler sisters—Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy—and Maria Reynolds, Alexander's eventual mistress. Maria never speaks to another woman, making her irrelevant to the test. The sisters, despite having many interactions, never have a whole conversation without discussing their search for a man or, once they meet him, Hamilton himself. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p>Despite this, one could argue that the Bechdel test is an unfair assessment of the female characters in <em>Hamilton</em>, as well as period pieces in general<em>, </em>for the simple reason that the past was, well, incredibly sexist. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><p>That being said, if you can change the telling of history enough to make Alexander Hamilton lay down a sick rap verse, can't you change it enough to create some autonomous female characters? According to Marjorie Strachey in <em>Women and the Modern Drama,</em> "As regards women the modern drama has before it a magnificent and almost untouched field, for the position of women is, and has been for fifty years, in a state of transition…"</p><p> So if this is true, is there any excuse for <em>Hamilton</em>, arguably the most influential work of modern drama in recent years, not to explore this unexplored territory?</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI3OTQ2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTY2MzU4Mn0.yhWd03Tw9j2uaIRoSNlLN-scu_Tg3irkUmD_saZh_2A/img.jpg?width=980" id="0a7ed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3e4c16ceb851925bc7aad4c01e442233" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Hamilton and Eliza ">
</p><p>It's worth noting that Miranda made it a priority to remain historically accurate in constructing his plot, so much so that<em> Hamilton</em> is being used as a means of historical education for grade school students. As unfortunate as it is, to make women any more involved in the life of Alexander Hamilton than they were would tarnish this historical accuracy. </p><p>Women during this time period were little more than property, to be bartered, used and exploited at the whim of whichever man's influence they were under at that time in their life. It could be argued that the Schuyler sisters are fully fleshed characters with inner lives and desires; the fact that their desires largely center around men is a reflection of the time they lived in, not the depth or strength of these characters.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p>But, according to contributor James McMaster on HowlRound.com, the argument, "'Well, this is just how things are back then!'" is inadequate. McMaster argues, "…It's hard to accept such an explanation when black and brown men populate the stage…Given all the cross-racial casting, why was gender-bent casting beyond the musical's imagination?" </p><p>But wouldn't gender-bent casting rob the musical of the powerful ways it explores the gender division of the time period? A female Aaron Burr, for example, would tell an entirely different story. Aaron Burr and Hamilton's tension comes largely from a clashing of specifically male egos. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p>That being said, according to Broadway World, Miranda stated that he is "open to the idea of gender bent casting", particularly in the cases of Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, two characters without love interests or majorly important gender roles within the plot of the show. </p><p>Beyond the critique that there aren't enough women in <em>Hamilton</em>, <a href="https://www.contemporarytheatrereview.org/2018/chandler-hamilton-almost-feminist/" target="_blank"><u>some find </u></a>that the female characters Miranda did create are devoid of strength. The instance most cited in this argument is Eliza's forgiveness of Hamilton after his very public infidelity (a historical fact). But couldn't it be argued that it's this very instance of grace that makes Eliza such a complex, strong female character? </p><p>The problem is that critics often look for female strength in the forms male strength might take, such as a lack of emotion, unwavering ambition, and a large presence. In Eliza, we are instead presented with a gentle woman who truly, deeply, loves her husband and has the courage to forgive him despite her anger. Is this not strength of a different, more delicate variety?</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Phillipa Soo Burn Hamilton The Musical</small>
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<a href="https://youtu.be/-_m_hwKu5FQ" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
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</p><p>In the song "Burn," we see Eliza reject Alexander and turn her back on their love, showing that despite many women of the day merely accepting the unfaithfulness of their husbands as the norm, Eliza will not. Eliza burns all of the letters she had exchanged with Hamilton, and as Michael Schulman points out in his article for <em>the New Yorker</em>, "The Women of 'Hamilton'": "…The song points to the larger problem of women's history: the public records are thinner, the milieu is mostly domestic, and there's more need for speculation. </p><p>What was Eliza really thinking? Was burning her letters the only act of personal agency she had left?" One forgiving interpretation is that this is Manuel-Miranda's way of noting this lack of public records regarding women and acknowledging the way it inevitably affected his show.<br></p><p>One must also look at Eliza's actions in the context of the entire plot. She abandons pride and refuses to hold grudges, something both Burr and Hamilton are unable to do, resulting in Hamilton's ultimate demise. In that sense, isn't Eliza the true protagonist of the show? In the closing scene, we hear about all of the many things she accomplishes before her death, things that Alexander was not able to accomplish because pride and manly bravado robbed him of his life. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-641"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - bottomofpage - bottom_of_page --></p><p>Is her ability to forgive the very thing ultimately flaunted as what Hamilton was fundamentally missing— his fatal flaw? Eliza's philanthropic accomplishments are cited as the culmination of the life of Alexander Hamilton, arguing that despite all his male pride, brilliant writing, and delusions of grandeur, the best work done by a Hamilton was that of his wife.</p><p>This argument would not be complete without mention of the other primary female character in the show: Angelica Schuyler. Angelica and Alexander connect on an intellectual level and are described as equals in all aspects. We hear about Angelica's correspondence with many men of great power, showing that despite her power being limited by her gender, she asserts her mind as much as she can. Despite the special connection Angelica and Alexander share, Angelica concedes to the desires of her younger sister, giving her blessing to Alexander and Eliza's marriage. She chooses her sister over him in this instance, and when she hears of his infidelity she rushes to her sister's side to reject Hamilton entirely.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-645"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent_4 645 - longest_content --></p><p>Angelica is a smart, powerful woman who is held back only by her gender, something she recognizes in the song "Satisfied," by proclaiming, "I'm a girl in a world in which / My only job is to marry rich / My father has no sons / So I'm the one / Who has to social-climb for one …"</p><p>Finally, we must engage with the limits of the Bechdel test itself. Often, people take the Bechdel test as the deciding factor as to whether or not a work can be considered feminist, but that's not necessarily true. For example, the 2015 movie <em>50 Shades of Grey</em> passed the Bechdel test but is far from being a movie that represents women in a way that would make most feminists proud. In contrast, you can look at older works and see that they do not pass the Bechdel test either, but feature complex female characters. <span></span></p><p>Given all of this, one has to conclude that Manuel-Miranda actually did a fair job in creating complex female characters while maintaining historical accuracy in <em>Hamilton</em>. Of course, representation of women on stage is still sorely lacking, but of all the shows worth criticizing, it seems fair to conclude that the accusations of sexism have primarily been aimed at <em>Hamilton</em> because of its immense success. </p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-646"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent_9 646 - incontent_9 --></p><p>None of this is to say that the Bechdel test isn't a helpful and important way of criticizing art, particularly new works, and holding them accountable for the inadequate ways they incorporate women, especially in modern stories in which women are freed from many of the obligations they were burdened with in the past. </p><h2></h2><p>Perhaps the Bechdel test should be edited to stipulate that in works representing the past, female characters should be evaluated by their complexity and strength, <em>despite </em>their necessary attachment to men. Such a test might read as follows: "Are there two or more named female characters? Do they talk to each other about something other than men? If they do not, is it out of a desire for the approval of men, or for survival? If for survival, are they shown to have wants and desires outside of those surrounding men?"</p><p> In the case of<em> Hamilton</em>, the women's discussion of men is not because they do not think of anything else or are too simple to conduct lives separate from men, but because it is a decided necessity to find a man in order to survive. Additionally, this is not where the character development ends, we learn a lot about both women's desires and inner lives, making them real, multi-faceted human beings, anchored to men by their circumstances, not their inability to be independent.</p>
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Culture News
Meet Nicholas Arnold Schock: The Racist Florida Man Getting Choked Out in a Viral Video
The white supremacist Trump fan is back in jail—again—a symbol of everything wrong with America's prison system.
08.03.2020
"I am a white supremacist. The Aryan Nation will rule the world!"
If you think that sounds like the words of a man who is about to be deservedly choked out, you're partially right. But before 36-year-old Nicholas Arnold Schock got taken down by a group of brave bystanders in Nokomis Florida, he would do a lot more to deserve such aggressive treatment.
The viral video of the incident opens with a belligerent Schock, half-naked, shouting at the staff of Pop's Sunset Grille to "call Donald Trump, he's gonna come get me out of prison." It's not evident what sparked the confrontation—whether Schock was refusing to wear a mask in the popular open-air venue, or simply wanted to strip naked. Whatever the case, Schock was seemingly convinced that Donald Trump would have his back in the ordeal.
<div id="5f69c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9ebd27330c50060669671f4db0581b29"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1289692804386562049" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A self-proclaimed white supremacist in Florida attacks an innocent woman after praising Donald Trump https://t.co/vCec0xn87S</div> — Fifty Shades of Whey (@Fifty Shades of Whey)<a href="https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/statuses/1289692804386562049">1596321700.0</a></blockquote></div><p>From there he quickly launched into his tirade about white supremacy, saying that, in the new world "people covered in tattoos are gonna be my closest relatives, I promise you." He then indicated some of his own tattoos, which include a sword, a skull, some dragons, a variety of norse runes, his own last name in 400 pt Affliction font across his back, and—just in case you thought he was kidding about white supremacy—at least three swastikas in various sizes and styles.<br></p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-633"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent1 - mid_content --></p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script>
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</script></center><p></p><p>Despite Schock's aggressive racism and exposed pubic area, staff members seemed to be doing their best to handle him peacefully, corralling him away from other patrons. One man admonished him that "we got children here," to which Schock responded "I don't give a ****. Call Donald Trump, please."</p><h4>When the Ranting Turned to Violence</h4><p>When that same man tried to lead him away from trouble Schock once again invoked our dear president, saying, "If you don't know Donald Trump, I'm not going nowhere." At that point Schock noticed the woman filming him, and his already erratic, frightening behavior ramped into high-gear.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-635"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent2 - long_content --></p><p>He pointed at the camera and said "I will butt-**** this b**** on the table right now," then walked around the corner and violently assaulted bartender Kisha Biche, who was blocking his way.</p><p><strong>The sight of Schock rearing back to smack Kisha Biche across the face with his full force elicited an audible uproar from onlookers</strong>, several of whom rushed in to tackle Schock as he began throwing punches. Schock was quickly pinned down and put in a chokehold—which didn't stop him from ranting but may have contributed to his increasing incoherence, going from, "I'll ****ing kill you! Swear to God, I'll do it!" to "Biggest dick in the world! My brother s***ed my dick!"</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-636"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent22 - long_content --></p><div id="17c0a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="350056e427ea312df7a66d83c73bdda0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1290073013744885760" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">McIlveny also took videos after the incident of the man being taken into custody by police. He didn’t see the initi… https://t.co/FnCL9UCySb</div> — Carlos R. Munoz 📰 (@Carlos R. Munoz 📰)<a href="https://twitter.com/ReadCarlos/statuses/1290073013744885760">1596412349.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Sadly, Kisha Biche sustained a concussion before Schock was pulled away from her. There is now a<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/tips-for-kisha?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet+expWdC" target="_blank"> GoFundMe page</a> quickly moving toward its $25,000 stretch goal to help Biche and her family to pay their bills while she recovers.</p><p>At some point after the incident devolved into a relative calm, police showed up to take Schock away, and he did his best to reason with them, stating in another video, "I am the I am. I don't give a **** what you do, I'm not being violent, I love you guys," before once again invoking his friends in high places, asking them to "call the sergeant in Sarasota."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-637"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent3 - longer_content --></p><p><span></span>Whether he actually has connections within the Sarasota police is unclear (they may be as real as his connections to Donald Trump), but Sarasota is exactly where Schock ended up in jail after being charged with battery and disturbing the peace. His bail is set at $55,000—possibly in response to public outcry at reports that it was initially set at just $620.<br></p><h4>Nicholas Schock's Criminal History</h4><p>A resident of the small central Florida town of Wauchula, Schock has previously been arrested in 2005 for possession of cocaine and <a href="https://en.rapsheetz.com/florida/hardee-jail/Schock_Nicholas/201500001127" target="_blank">in 2016 for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon</a>—for which he served three years in state prison before being released in December of 2019.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-638"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent33 - longer_content --></p><p></p><center><script async="" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script><!-- Popdust Mobile Banner 320x100 --><ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:320px;height:100px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-4301469008561137" data-ad-slot="6952751205"></ins><script>
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</script></center><p></p><p>It's not yet known what substances Schock may have been abusing in the lead-up to his latest unhinged rampage, but what is clear is that the American prison system did little to reform him. In fact, it's very likely that he received many of his tattoos—and the white supremacist ideology that goes with them—while locked up.</p><p>The Aryan Brotherhood, with membership estimated between 15,000 and 20,000, is undoubtedly the most famous of the white supremacist gangs operating within America's prison system—possibly because of <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/aryan-brotherhood" target="_blank">their disproportionate contribution to prison murders</a>. But there are <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/20140106/intelligence-report-special-edition-aryan-prison-gangs" target="_blank">a number of similarly violent white supremacist gangs operating in American prisons</a>, any one of which might have brought Schock into the fold and marked him with his various hate symbols.</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-639"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent4 - longest_content --></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTM1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5OTEyNjI5Mn0.j8YNIgotD-uL845hol2argMtFHQ_UU-EVoV6r_kjsr0/img.jpg?width=980" id="30d40" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48e7cae64fb9a6060cb6a10967e62d13" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="A chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood">
</p><p><strong>For many prisoners, membership in a (usually racially segregated) prison gang is <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/how-gangs-took-over-prisons/379330/" target="_blank">an essential part of self-preservation</a></strong><strong>.</strong> American prisons are often so violent and so inhumane that there is little choice in the matter. This is by no means an excuse for Shock's racism or violence, but it's hardly a mystery that men crammed together in inhumane conditions and forced to join gangs to survive don't come out of that situation as functioning members of society.<br></p><p>With <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html" target="_blank">over 27% unemployment rate among former prisoners as of 2018</a> (the figure is likely much higher now), is it any wonder that many former convicts turn to criminal connections they formed in prison to find them work? It would be libelous to assert that Schock is one of them, but...it's also hard to imagine how else someone like him could be making money.</p><p>And considering the fact that <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/the-fbi-has-quietly-investigated-white-supremacist-infiltration-of-law-enforcement/" target="_blank">white supremacist organizations have made a concerted effort to infiltrate state and local law enforcement</a> throughout the country, it may be that Schock really does love the police, and he may even be friends with "the sergeant in Sarasota."</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-640"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - incontent44 - longest_content --></p><p>In short, the racism that permeates America's criminal justice system goes far beyond <a href="https://www.popdust.com/derek-chauvin-hat-2646109506.html" target="_self">the horrifying brutality we saw in the case of George Floyd</a>. It not only funnels the disproportionately Black and brown prison population into a hopeless cycle, it helps to bring white supremacist groups new members.</p><h4>Inhumane Conditions in America's Prison System</h4><p>While it feels good to see a violent racist like Nicholas Schock get taken down and locked away from the public—it's certainly a good thing that he won't be assaulting people like Kisha Biche anytime soon—it's important to note that many prison systems in the rest of the world are not like this.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMTM0Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDY3MTc2MX0.rPrBxXOz1RGOgFy5S5ZO_Ot4qEDseGnlVRs6ramGZ_w/img.jpg?width=980" id="87675" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cc6c6ce13409fd1e1a5f88b6cb14e63f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="Kisha Biche">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Facebook</small></p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/norways-prisons-are-better-than-the-american-prisons-2018-6" target="_blank">They treat prisoners as human beings who have done something bad</a>, rather than like monsters—like dangerous animals with no rights. They have enough space to have lives and privacy. They don't run the risk of being isolated in solitary confinement for weeks on end—considered <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-trauma/201805/solitary-confinement-is-torture" target="_blank">among the worst forms of psychological torture</a>.<br></p><p>Prison administration encourages inmates to educate themselves and prepare for the outside world, rather than <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/11/prison-libraries-book-bans-california-sacramento-reading-rehabilitation/" target="_blank">arbitrarily censoring books</a>. Their spaces are kept sanitary, and they're given access to proper medical care…</p><p><div id="ezoic-pub-ad-placeholder-641"> </div>
<!-- End Ezoic - bottomofpage - bottom_of_page --></p><p>Last year <a href="https://www.docketbird.com/court-documents/Schock-v-Saunders-et-al/COMPLAINT-against-All-Defendants-with-Jury-Demand-Filing-fee-400-receipt-number-113A-15166877-filed-by-Nicholas-Schock/flmd-2:2019-cv-00111-00001" target="_blank">Nicholas Schock filed suit against several sheriffs and a nurse</a> for the unsanitary conditions and inadequate medical care that allegedly led him to develop a persistent bacterial infection on his body when he was jailed in 2016. Was that before or after his body was infected with symbols of hate? </p><p><strong>If our institutions stopped dehumanizing prisoners so eagerly, would the prisoners themselves be so eager to dehumanize others?</strong></p><p>Watching Schock assault an innocent woman, it's easy to think of him as a monster. But if we keep treating men like him as monsters, they will continue to live up to those expectations. As a result of our harsh, inhumane treatment of prisoners like Schock, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6743246/" target="_blank">the United States has one of the highest rates of re-offense in the world</a>—people get out of prison and head right back in.</p><h2></h2><h2></h2><p>How long will Schock stay locked up this time? And what will he do when he gets out?</p>
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