New York Times article in question
NYT Accused Of Normalizing White Nationalism In ‘Nazi Sympathizer’ Profile
Quote:
The New York Times is under fire for publishing a profile of an Ohio native and Nazi sympathizer that many saw as an attempt to normalize white nationalism.
The profile, written by Times reporter Richard Fausset and published Saturday, follows Tony Hovater, a 29-year-old welder from a Dayton suburb, and his path from a “vaguely leftist rock musician” to a Nazi sympathizer and “avowed white nationalist.”
Some readers thought Fausset’s profile wasn’t critical enough of Hovater’s views on race (Hovater believes races should be separated), his admiration for Adolf Hitler (Hovater described Hitler as “kind of chill” and thinks the Holocaust’s death total estimates are “overblown”) and his role in starting the extreme right-wing Traditionalist Worker Party, a group that marched at the white supremacy rally this summer in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Fausset appears to use the newlywed’s seemingly normal life to show just how easy it is for an average American such as Hovater to adopt such radical and hateful views.
Instead, many saw the profile as an attempt to normalize Hovater’s white nationalist views, fascism and the neo-Nazi movement.
Bess Kalb
"I don't mean to sound intolerant or coarse, but f**k this Nazi and f**k the gentle, inquisitive tone of this Nazi normalizing barf journalism, and f**k the photographer for not just throwing the camera at this Nazi's head and laughing."
Bess Kalb, a writer for “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” especially took issue with Fausset’s insistence that Hovater is polite. For example, in the same sentence that Fausset describes Hovater as a Nazi sympathizer, he immediately calls him “polite and low-key.” When writing of Hovater as a self-described “social media villain” who occasionally appears on alt-right podcasts, Fausset adds that “his Midwestern manners would please anyone’s mother.”
Even the profile’s title suggests that Hovater is a charming character, despite his views on race and white supremacy: “In America’s Heartland, the Nazi Sympathizer Next Door.”
There is a problem with making a man who believes that races should be separated seem likable. It suggests that Hovater’s politeness and all-American love for “Seinfeld” can make his hateful views more tolerable.
Many took to Twitter to remind the Times that being a self-described Nazi sympathizer isn’t as harmless as the profile made it seem.
Denzicam James"
'Nazis: "We want to kill all minorities!"
White journalists at the New York Times: "Ok, but please tell us more about your favorite food and show."'
Matthew Chapmen
"After today, I’m convinced more than ever that the New York Times needs more women and more minorities on their editorial board and senior management.
A human interest piece on a literal, actual Nazi would never have made it off the drawing board in a diverse, mixed newsroom."
Readers Accuse Us of Normalizing a Nazi Sympathizer; We RespondThe Nazi Next Door Is Real—and Unspectacular - CommentaryCommentary Magazine is an anti Trump conservative Jewish Publication
Noah Rothman wrote:
Among the criticisms of this piece offered by liberals like Quartz editor Indrani Sen and Vox.com’s Ezra Klein was that a gauzy portrayal of a neo-Nazi seemed to be the profile’s only purpose. “[I]t doesn’t add anything to our understanding of modern Nazis,” Klein offered.
But it did.
The article did not begin and end with an exploration of the items on the Hovaters’ wedding registry. It delved into both Hovater and his network’s thinking regarding how they intend to integrate into acceptable society. It was a deeply disturbing portrayal of a racist movement that is beginning to eschew shock tactics in favor of infiltration and the persuasion of what the profile’s subject called “normal people.”
It described Hovater’s social media habits, which are shared by much of the alt-right—a useful detail for those who may be interested in preventing white nationalists from blending into society without a hitch. The profile explored Hovater’s reading, music tastes, and the evolution of his political thinking. It detailed his affinity for Vladimir Putin, his hatred for the press, and his disgust with United States as it is currently constituted. If you’re interested in identifying neo-Nazis in the wild, this is all useful information. The piece also described Hovater’s life at home, where he minced garlic, cooed over his cats, and talked about having children with his future wife. For the Times’ critics, this was unacceptable. “That evil is also banal is not new,” Klein quipped. Not so. Apparently, for those who were scandalized by this profile, it is.
Undergirding the left’s revulsion over the “normalization” of an American Nazi is the idea that some—not them, of course, but the vulgar multitudes—will be tempted to embrace white supremacy because a welder in Ohio enjoys “Twin Peaks.” This is not prudence but pretension. These liberal critics imagine themselves enlightened enough to know evil when they see it in print, but not you.
This is a censorious impulse. It represents the left’s troubling allergy to moral complexity. A man can have cats, buy barbecue sauce, love and be loved like the rest of us, and also be a beast of unspeakable prejudice and cruelty.
Increasingly and to its detriment, the left in the age of Trump has convinced itself that its adversaries are, or ought to be, one-dimensional monstrosities with a monomaniacal devotion to undermining all that they hold dear. The New York Times should not be catering to children who lash out when their adversaries are depicted as fully formed human beings. The objection here is not to reportorial standards at the Times but to a set of facts the objectors cannot stand.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
29 Nov 2017, 4:13 pm
