A showdown in America's culture war

A teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, center left, stands in front of an American Indian singing and playing a drum in Washington in this Jan. 18 image made from video. Credit: AP
For the last several days, the biggest political drama in the United States has focused not on the government shutdown, but on a brief staring contest between a senior citizen and a high school student. One could see this as a sign of the “idiocracy” into which our discourse has descended. But last Friday’s between a group of boys from a Midwestern Catholic school and an American Indian activist is not a trivial story. This episode exemplified key aspects of modern American public life, from identity politics and political tribalism to clickbait journalism, social media swarming, and the challenge of figuring out the facts amid dueling narratives.
The story broke on Saturday with a short viral video in which a group of boys, some in “Make America Great Again” hats — students from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, in town for the anti-abortion March for Life — appeared to mob and jeer an Omaha Nation elder on the National Mall. The condemnation across the political spectrum was swift, unanimous and often over the top. CNN pundit Reza Aslan tweeted that a boy seen smirking at the elder had a “punchable face.” Comedian Kathy Griffin demanded the kids’ names. Many said they should never be forgiven.
But some people began to warn that there was more to the story, based on extended videos of the encounter. While these claims were initially brushed aside as an attempt to excuse the inexcusable, the skeptics soon grew in number. The fuller footage showed that the elder, Nathan Phillips, was not set upon by the boys but walked into their midst beating a drum.
Phillips, who was there for the Indigenous Peoples March, claimed he decided to intervene when he saw the boys harassing several older black protesters. But the videos refuted that, too. The black men, preachers from a fringe cult known as the Black Hebrew Israelites, were clearly the ones harassing the boys with racial and homophobic taunts.
While media outlets amended the story and a number of people who initially condemned the boys issued apologies, a ferocious debate continues to rage. Many people — not only conservatives, but centrists and even leftists, such as Seattle journalist Katie Herzog — have argued that the videos exonerate the boys, showing that, at worst, some behaved immaturely in a tense situation. Others, such as Mother Jones editor Clara Jeffery, claim that the full footage fully confirms the original claim.
Partly, the war is over interpretation. Are the boys prancing and whooping to mock Philips’ heritage, or is this a continuation of a school chant started before he approached, in response to the preachers’ taunts?
To me, the sequence clearly suggests the latter (though one or two boys may have done the tomahawk chop gesture, and if meant in mockery of Phillips, that clearly calls for an apology). Others are adamant that the boys are harassing Phillips. Some of these perceptions seem influenced by personal experiences with bullies. But mostly, those who insist the boys are guilty are fairly open about the fact that it’s about identity: privileged white males versus the marginalized.
Ultimately, this episode is a win for Trump supporters. The initial bad reporting — which some major news organizations, including The Washington Post and CNN, were too slow to correct — feeds the “fake news” narrative. The insistence that the Covington High boys are the bad guys because they are white, affluent and conservative feeds right-wing claims of liberal intolerance and anti-white animus.
But perhaps the biggest lesson of this affair: Culture war is hell, and it’s here to stay.
Cathy Young is a contributing editor to Reason.