Well, the local Nazi fight club went down to Franklin last Monday night to act as bodyguards for mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson. Then they apparently took to Telegram to threaten journalists Phil Williams and Holly McCall. In a statement following the alarming display, Hanson claims she’s not a Nazi — “Furthermore, I want to state categorically that I am not, nor have I ever been associated with any white supremacy or Nazi-affiliated group” — and then literally goes on to talk about her business relationship with self-professed Nazi Brad Lewis.
Sadly for Hanson, being in a lucrative real estate deal with a Nazi makes you associated with a Nazi. It’s fine — we’re not talking about the brightest bulbs in the chandelier here. One of Hanson’s maybe-official/maybe-not-official guards who appears to be a member of the Nazi fight club has covered up his white face with tattoos. You might think that would disqualify one from being a white supremacist, since his white skin wasn’t cool enough on its own, but he’s still allowed in the Nazi fight club.
I’ve been thinking a lot about humor in these situations. Like, I’m sorry, but it is objectively funny as shit that there is a white supremacist who has filled his white face full of nonwhite ink. If being white is so great, why did this dude go to such great lengths to not be white?
But I’ve researched a lot about Tennessee racists and how Tennessee has handled them, and a big mistake we make and have made repeatedly is to assume that, if something makes us laugh, then it’s not dangerous. Couple that with the belief that finding a way to laugh at something gives it less power, and you can easily get into situations where very dangerous people can be openly and obviously plotting, but because they’re complete clowns about it, you may let your guard down, or never put it up to begin with.
And that's how Franklin has ended up being one election away from a mayor who is friends with one of Tennessee’s most famous current Nazis. Everyone thought she was a joke — and she is — so there wasn’t any reason to take her seriously as a threat. But there is a threat. I, myself, am not sure how to square this circle. I keep trying to figure out how to ask comedians about this, since they have experience in taking jokes seriously, but I haven’t even figured out exactly what my questions are. It just boils down to: Yes, it's funny, but it’s also alarming. One minute our politicians are rallying with Proud Boys, the next minute they can’t bring themselves to reject the appreciation of racists, and then the Nazi fight club is providing protection for a mayoral candidate.
Thank God for state Rep. Sam Whitson who also released a statement after Monday’s fiasco denouncing Hanson and her supporters:
Threats of intimidation have absolutely no place in our politics —not in Franklin, not in Tennessee, and not in America. No candidate, including Mrs. Hanson, should ever resort to summoning the support of neo-Nazis or any cadre of violent anti-American extremists in order to settle a political contest of any sort.
Further, any local political group who would excuse or sanction this kind of conduct, including those that continue to endorse Mrs. Hanson’s candidacy, share in her culpability. The Franklin I’ve known and loved flatly rejects them.
This is clear, direct, strongly worded and right. When you see how easy it is to do, it makes Gov. Bill Lee’s silence even louder.
This brings us to David Plazas at The Tennessean. Now that we have a Nazi fight club and an extremist gas station (even typing this made me laugh, even though it’s also terrifying) and politicians rallying with white supremacists and using them as security, The Tennessean should probably bring on a reporter whose job is covering racists in the state. This shouldn’t be left to Plazas.
In his analysis of Hanson, Plazas quotes her as saying: “This is very likely the most significant election since the Battle of Franklin. This is a battle for the heart and soul of this community, for our culture, for our identity, for our future and for our children.” This quote is incredible. I read this and was like, “Wow, so much for her not being a racist.” Plazas read it and wrote: “The war metaphor is rather strange, but perhaps not unusual at a time when there has been pushback to removing Confederate monuments or reassessing history in South and where the national culture war has entered into local politics. ... But the war reference is peculiar given the growth challenges facing counties around Middle Tennessee that involve how to pay for public services, develop a sustainable workforce, and provide housing opportunities for residents of different income levels.”
David. DA-VID. Hanson is a person who does business with racists and who has racist bodyguards who are on a first-name basis with her. This is a person who, according to Phil Williams, was sharing on Facebook Telegram messages from their Nazi fight club (and ask yourself, David, how many nonracists do you know who use Telegram?), and who is giving a statement that sounds like an echo of the Fourteen Words. She says “for our culture, for our identity, for our future, and for our children.” White supremacists say, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” She is referencing the Battle of Franklin because it was a fight where an openly ideologically white supremacist treasonous faction of our country tried to destroy the nation because they were afraid the nation might make them give up the privilege of keeping nonwhite people captive and beating them any time they wanted.
It sure looks like she is trying just as hard as she can to signal to racists that she’s one of them without coming out and saying she’s one of them. In my opinion.
This, too, is funny: She’s saying all these things that so clearly will resonate with white supremacists, which you would think would be a huge part of the reason someone like Plazas would urge people not to vote for her. But instead he’s hung up on whether her Battle of Franklin reference is apt.
We’re in trouble, folks. And I’m not sure how we get out of it. But laughing feels better than crying.
