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*White nationalists are reportedly taking advantage of the “Black Panther” fandemonium by pushing their argument online that “nation-states should be organized by ethnic groups,” according to new research published Wednesday.
via The Washington Post:
“One popular image circulating on far-right sites shows the title character — the superhero king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda — wearing a red “Make Wakanda Great Again” hat. This is an explicit homage to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign gear.
The image carried a headline of “BLACK PANTHER IS ALT-RIGHT,” referring to the movement that promotes racist, anti-Semitic and sexist views and seeks a whites-only state. It claimed the superhero opposed immigration, diversity and democracy while favoring “ethno-nationalism” — a profound mischaracterization of the movie’s main themes, according to researchers at Data & Society, a New York-based think tank that studied far-right online conversation about the film.”
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Additional highlights from the report:
“Similar misleading messages, the researchers said, are being delivered over YouTube, Twitter and 4chan, an anonymous online message board where far-right political activists often exchange views and plan disinformation campaigns, such as the recent effort to “downvote” “Black Panther” on the popular movie-rating site Rotten Tomatoes.”
“They’re very savvy about social media use. They know if they can cover ‘Black Panther,’ it’ll show up in search results for people looking to learn more about the movie,” said Becca Lewis, one of the Data & Society researchers. “They try to phrase white nationalism as identity politics for white people. … They’re essentially trying to co-opt its identity politics.”
Researchers said white nationalists online “have sought to subvert and transform” the themes of Marvel movie “in hopes of recruiting followers and normalizing their views on white supremacy.”
Malkia Cyril, the executive director of the Center for Media Justice, an Oakland-based nonprofit group, said, “The claim that the Black Panther hero, King T’Challa, represents the core beliefs of the alt right — isolationism, anti-globalism and racial homogeneity — is preposterous, and can only be asserted by white supremacists or people who really don’t understand the relationship between Africans in the diaspora and on the continent.”
“The research also described widespread efforts by conservative commentators to portray “Black Panther” as “anti-white” because of its mainly black cast and celebration of African heritage and identity.”
“The researchers said white nationalists seeking to manipulate the portrayal of “Black Panther” created Twitter hashtags, including #Wakandaisntreal and #OpenBordersforWakanda.”
A racist YouTube personality uploaded a video titled “Black Panther: A Hero the #AltRight Deserves?” It says: “The alt-right should not only consider supporting the Black Panther movie; they should meme it all over social media and attend screenings en masse, proudly showing their solidarity with him and his values. If not only just for the giggle factor, it would definitely confuse, disorient, and discombobulate those on the far-left.”
“Rather than use “Black Panther” as evidence of Hollywood’s liberalism, the alt-right has suggested the world’s largest entertainment company, Disney, is quietly supporting its beliefs.”
“Wakandans are isolationist because they don’t want to become refugees,” said Kinjal Dave, one of the Data & Society researchers. “The far-right is isolationist because they don’t want to accept refugees.”
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