Her latest book is Hate Thy Neighbor: Move-In Violence and the Persistence of Racial Segregation in American Housing.Reply on Twitter 1579611735660453888 Retweet on Twitter 1579611735660453888 Like on Twitter 1579611735660453888 Twitter 1579611735660453888 Load MoreĪlyssa milano doubles down on calling trump maga hats 'The new white hood'. JEANNINE BELL: Thank you so much for having me.īOB GARFIELD: Jeannine Bell is a hate crimes scholar and professor at Indiana University's Maurer School of Law. JEANNINE BELL: As a scholar, that's my perspective, that one picture does not allow you to draw conclusions.īOB GARFIELD: Jeannine, thank you very much. Was it enough evidence to be drawing conclusions? I know what the first frame, however, is like because that's what, you know, it's the cover in all the-īOB GARFIELD: So if I were to assert, because I-and I believe it, that first frame close to the case for a lot of people.īOB GARFIELD: I just want you to characterize that reaction to that kid, the hat, the smirk, the whole deal. It's been across my Facebook feed 50,000–No. So I have more interest in it because I do it for work than most people. JEANNINE BELL: You're not going to be able to get a witness on this one or a good tape on this one because I haven't seen the video.īOB GARFIELD: You're the only American, I think, who has not. Is there enough evidence in that single frame for anyone, no matter what their worldview, to draw a conclusion. JEANNINE BELL: I do not think that we would be having these conversations at all.īOB GARFIELD: There were hundreds or thousands or I don't know what number of people who had seen everything they needed to see in the first frame of the Lincoln Memorial encounter. But this is not surprising that one might see the wearing of this hat as an invocation of racism.īOB GARFIELD: Let me ask you this, if those kids have been wearing Kentucky Wildcat hats, you'd think we'd be even having this conversation? They may decide to wear them anyway, and that's of course their right. These are polarized times where we talk about things. So individuals who put on the hats, they know how others see them. I also think that we all live in the same world, right? And it's important for us to be honest with each other about the impressions that we're creating when we engage with one another. So I don't think fair versus unfair is the right way to see this. JEANNINE BELL: Everyone's entitled to a view informed by their perspective–absolutely entitled. JEANNINE BELL: It is also not a smoking gun.īOB GARFIELD: And yet, the Internet blew up with outrage over what was perceived as the smoking gun of racism, of privilege, of white oppression. The rhetoric during the campaign that involved pummeling protesters suggests that not all ideas are welcome.īOB GARFIELD: And yet, it's also not a smoking gun. There's certainly been rhetoric attached to the hat that suggests violence. It puts me on my guard being prepared to expect the worst. Some people see a vase.īOB GARFIELD: When I see them, I have a visceral, you know, sort of flinch. It's not a straightforward sign that you get with something like a Klan hood.īOB GARFIELD: Another way of saying that might be Rorschach test. In that way, the MAGA hat is a very complicated sign. Others see the MAGA hats as the racial hatred that was invoked, at particular times, by members of the Republican Party. It's not necessarily linked with this idea of white supremacy. JEANNINE BELL: Individuals who wear MAGA hats see them as supporting the idea that America should be made great again. The Klan is a sign that's universal.īOB GARFIELD: But there are other powerful symbols for which the meaning is in the eyes of the beholder. JEANNINE BELL: There are particular signs that are universal.

īOB GARFIELD: White hood? Really? That bad? Jeannine Bell is a hate crime scholar and a professor at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. This Make America Great Again hat is just as maddening and frustrating and triggering for me to look at as a KKK hood. CNN contributor Angela Rye.ĪNGELA RYE: Just think about the symbol of that Red Hat. BOB GARFIELD: It was an episode that began as a thumbnail and became a meme–smirking kid in MAGA hat nose to nose with drummer.

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