'White Man's March' Events Draw Smattering of Participants, Loads of Derision
Kyle Hunt had grand visions of thousands of white men coming out of the woodwork this weekend to stand up and defend their interests in a public march that would grab the nation鈥檚 attention. Like a lot of such plans, things didn鈥檛 exactly work out that way.
Hunt, a 30-year-old former Google employee currently living in Massachusetts, promoted the 鈥淲hite Man鈥檚 March鈥� this past weekend through a variety of white supremacist outlets, including his own outfit, Renegade Broadcasting, an Internet radio station devoted to covering 鈥渢he destruction of the white race.鈥� The plan was to hold the , with satellite marches occurring in various other cities around the country.
The marches, , were a response to fears that white people are being "mocked, displaced and violently attacked" through an insidious liberal idea known as "diversity."
But no one seems to have actually marched in the "#whitemanmarch." It was more of a series of brief banner displays and Twitter photo postings of racist flyers and stickers affixed to various objects around the country. The banners were large red-and-white affairs reading 鈥淒iversity = White Genocide鈥�.
Hunt argues that the 鈥溾�榙iversity鈥� agenda is being directed at white countries (and only at white countries) with various programs to ensure that there are less white people at schools and in the work force, which is unfair and discriminatory.鈥� It is "taking away money and opportunities from the White citizens," he says.
The New York event ran into trouble when it emerged that Hunt was attempting to with the annual St. Patrick鈥檚 Day Parade in New York, scheduled for the same weekend. His plans were roundly denounced by angry Irish Americans and parade organizers.
Hunt told the press beforehand that he expected 鈥渢housands鈥� to participate. On Saturday, only a smattering of attendees showed up in New York. There were similarly tiny gatherings in Florence, Ky., Tempe, Ariz. and , where police took down the 鈥淒iversity鈥� banners. Demonstrators also showed up in . and .
As much as anything, the march was the subject of open mockery, especially on social media and the Internet. On Twitter, people flooded in with derisive tweets, some of which were so hilarious they were collected at , and elsewhere.
Reactions from white supremacists to the low turnout and poor press coverage was mixed. , of "mantra" fame, that his "white genocide" message had been inappropriately commandeered and that the event was not inclusive of women. "The White MAN鈥檚 March was a hijack. White people come in two sexes," he wrote Sunday.聽 Whitaker also chided the concept of taking to the streets as something "out of the 30's."
Other racists were of the Klansmen who showed up to participate at a protest in Florence, Kentucky, organized by former National Alliance leader, Robert Ransdell, particularly since this was one of the few gatherings that generated .聽聽 Skinheads and also attended.
Ransdell defended the Klan's presence and stated his protest was ", White people in large numbers not even being scared away."
Counting Ransdell, the "large numbers" at his Kentucky event added up to nine, which seems to have been one of the largest White Man鈥檚 March gatherings anywhere. The presence of two notorious skinheads and two Klansmen didn't stop Ransdell from taking a victory lap on the racist forums Sunday.
Meanwhile, Hunt is pursuing his next grand vision. He that he may well be the President of the USA by 2020.
