This Black Protestor Hugging A White Skinhead Might Be The Biggest "Bigger Man" I've Ever Seen
NY Post- A man in a swastika T-shirt wandered into an angry crowd of anti-white-supremacist protesters in Gainesville on Thursday, where he got jostled, punched, and — of all things — hugged.
The skinhead, whose white T-shirt featured multiple gray swastikas, found himself in the midst of an angry crowd at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Some 300 protesters had gathered there to demonstrate against white supremacist Richard Spencer, who was giving a speech at the student center.
The skinhead first grimaced, as if bracing for more violence, then relaxed, smiled slightly, and hugged back.
And shrieking cheers rose up from the mob.
Hey world? Well done. That was a moment right there. Apparently this was the exchange:
“Why you don’t like me dog?”
“I don’t know.”
I’ve got chills, kids. There is nothing in the world that feels better than a hug. I’m sure a lot of these skinheads didn’t get too many hugs in life. Sure, he may be wearing a cold, hard, swastika-emblazoned shell. But all it took was a little body-on-body bro hug and that outer shell of hate was melted, revealing a shivering, confused, newborn pup underneath. You can see it in his eyes: he’s been reset. That black guy deleted his hard drive and refurbished him. The parts may be old, but the thinking is brand new. He’s ready for a new ideology, new impressions, new memories. All because of a hug.
Now sadly, I realize that none of what I just wrote is probably true. In all likelihood, this white supremacist is going to walk home thinking “boy, that was a great moment.” But then he’s going to get a call from Richard Spencer, who will rant for 10 straight minutes about the evil of Jews and black people and left-handed golfers and people who remove the crusts from their PB&Js. And after hearing all that, our former-skinhead-turned-blank-slate will once again fall under the lights of perverted science.
But just for a moment there, that hug planted the seed of doubt. You can see him thinking, “maybe I was wrong.” And that, my friends, is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Plant some hopeful doubt this weekend. Hug someone you hate. You may get punched in the face. Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll find someone who doesn’t remember why they hated you in the first place.