Flyers have popped up around the University of Kansas campus warning students that “neo-nazis and hate groups will use coded language to avoid being called what they are” — and that “Make America Great Again” is an example of this language.
The flyers, which were obtained by Campus Reform, allege that “there has been a disturbing presence of neo-nazi and hate group recruitment taking place on campus.”
“Given the violent and dangerous nature of groups such as this, it’s imperative that we do not allow their presence to become normative,” the flyer states.
The flyer also encourages students to photograph, “remove,” and report any materials that they see from one of these “hate” groups around campus.
Now, I’m not ignorant of the fact that some of the people who voted for Trump did do so because they’re racist, but that doesn’t represent all of the people who did — or even most of them. Some did it because they’re pro-life. Some people did it because they felt that workers in the manufacturing sector have been ignored. All kinds of people voted for Donald Trump for all kinds of reasons, and to spread the idea that when you hear someone say “Make America Great Again,” they’re really saying “Pssssst! I’m a Nazi!” is completely insane.
What’s more, the content of these flyers actually works against what the people who posted them are trying to accomplish. First of all, absurd, haphazard “Nazi!” accusations only distract from the very real examples of racism and intolerance that do exist in our society. Second, a lot of people who voted for Trump did so because they were sick of an overly “PC” culture, sick of seeing people hurl accusations of racism and sexism at others over every little thing — and the kind of stuff that’s on these flyers will only encourage them to vote for him again.
According to Campus Reform, it’s not clear who is responsible for posting the flyers.
– Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.