"The Devil Next Door" is a powerful doc series about the Israeli gov prosecuting a Ukranian autoworker in Detroit for being a Nazi concentration camp guard. One of the things that stuck out about the series is that so many Americans neighbors kept saying they didn't believe the accused could be a Nazi because he was a nice grandfather who lived nearby. No way a Nazi could be a nice grandfather.
As a person of color, I can relate to the dominant culture's disbelief in 'pleasant evil'; because they do not code-switch they think that 'niceness' is the same as goodness. And evil is the same as abhorrent-horns-in-head villainy. But if you are a person who has to code-switch in your life -i.e. a person of color, woman, LGBTQI, repressed religious minority- you are VERY VERY aware that ppl switch etiquette and behavior...all the time. Someone acting 'nice' is simply a collection of signifiers and manners.
How many times do we hear the next-door neighbor of a killer act surprised b/c 'he was so nice.' Ted Bundy was a clean-cut, nice looking white man you would take home to your mom. He was also a serial killer. Many rapists, racists, and truly awful ppl can be 'nice.' In fact, our inability to see the difference between 'nice' and good' is what allows evil to thrive b/c awful ppl only have to code-switch into 'nice mode.' In fact, sociopaths and psychopaths depend upon this loophole. Rapists aren't just hunchback ghouls...they're Stanford swimmers, Hollywood moguls, presidents, glamorous people. Their ability to put on a suit does not excuse their acts. And the same is true with evil political movements.
Fascism never comes at you cackling and covered in the blood of your children. Fascism arrives at your door clean-cut, smiling, maybe a grandfather or grandmother filled with nostalgia. Evil movements can speak politely or sway you with that feeling of honesty, 'he's just speaking what we're all thinking.' Restore German strength, return to simpler agrarian times of Cambodia, restore the strength of the Japanese emperor in the face of Western imperialism and, yes, make America great again (and btw, Trump is not the first time this slogan has been used to imply racial degradation) Fascism promises to make things better for you, often insinuating ever so slightly that a certain group of people is responsible for your pain...wouldn't it be better if they were gone...or in camps? Evil movements smile, speak charismatically.
As a POC some times it feels like I'm the crazy guy trying to convince white allies that the smiling nice guy is actually up to no good b/c of his actions, or that the other POC artist or politician who claims to represent the people is actually just a low-level sociopath who has found the loophole. It makes me feel crazy, like the world is gaslighting me. I begin to think 'maybe...I'm overreacting...they are so nice...how bad could it be? Okay, maybe he raped a little bit...but that was the past. Okay, he didn't kill but maybe he incited people to kill...but he didn't really mean it. He was just talking. Okay maybe he also killed..one...or a few. But he's not killing right now. He's just smiling at me. Okay maybe it's bad...but is it really that bad? They seem so nice."
As a person of color, I can relate to the dominant culture's disbelief in 'pleasant evil'; because they do not code-switch they think that 'niceness' is the same as goodness. And evil is the same as abhorrent-horns-in-head villainy. But if you are a person who has to code-switch in your life -i.e. a person of color, woman, LGBTQI, repressed religious minority- you are VERY VERY aware that ppl switch etiquette and behavior...all the time. Someone acting 'nice' is simply a collection of signifiers and manners.
How many times do we hear the next-door neighbor of a killer act surprised b/c 'he was so nice.' Ted Bundy was a clean-cut, nice looking white man you would take home to your mom. He was also a serial killer. Many rapists, racists, and truly awful ppl can be 'nice.' In fact, our inability to see the difference between 'nice' and good' is what allows evil to thrive b/c awful ppl only have to code-switch into 'nice mode.' In fact, sociopaths and psychopaths depend upon this loophole. Rapists aren't just hunchback ghouls...they're Stanford swimmers, Hollywood moguls, presidents, glamorous people. Their ability to put on a suit does not excuse their acts. And the same is true with evil political movements.
Fascism never comes at you cackling and covered in the blood of your children. Fascism arrives at your door clean-cut, smiling, maybe a grandfather or grandmother filled with nostalgia. Evil movements can speak politely or sway you with that feeling of honesty, 'he's just speaking what we're all thinking.' Restore German strength, return to simpler agrarian times of Cambodia, restore the strength of the Japanese emperor in the face of Western imperialism and, yes, make America great again (and btw, Trump is not the first time this slogan has been used to imply racial degradation) Fascism promises to make things better for you, often insinuating ever so slightly that a certain group of people is responsible for your pain...wouldn't it be better if they were gone...or in camps? Evil movements smile, speak charismatically.
As a POC some times it feels like I'm the crazy guy trying to convince white allies that the smiling nice guy is actually up to no good b/c of his actions, or that the other POC artist or politician who claims to represent the people is actually just a low-level sociopath who has found the loophole. It makes me feel crazy, like the world is gaslighting me. I begin to think 'maybe...I'm overreacting...they are so nice...how bad could it be? Okay, maybe he raped a little bit...but that was the past. Okay, he didn't kill but maybe he incited people to kill...but he didn't really mean it. He was just talking. Okay maybe he also killed..one...or a few. But he's not killing right now. He's just smiling at me. Okay maybe it's bad...but is it really that bad? They seem so nice."
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