Academia, Free Speech, Media, Politics, Society

Law Professor: MAGA Hat “Undeniable Symbol Of White Supremacy”

download-3Gonzaga University School of Law Visiting Law Professor Jeffrey Omari has written a column in the ABA Journal that demonstrates the increasingly shrill environment faced by conservative students.  Omari took to the pages of the Journal to recount his almost breathless encounter with a student wearing a “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) hat. Most of us are used to students wearing political hats and teeshirts.  I am always happy to see students with such clothing because it shows that they are engaged and passionate regardless of their views. For Omari, the incident was chilling since he declares the MAGA hats worn by many conservatives to be per se racist symbols.

Omari insisted that anyone wearing the hats are advancing “racial antagonism” since they are an “undeniable symbol of white supremacy”:

“From my (progressive) perspective as a black man living in the increasingly polarized political climate that is America, MAGA is an undeniable symbol of white supremacy and hatred toward certain nonwhite groups.”

The hats are the campaign symbol of Donald Trump and many support his policies.  Yet, Omari insists “For its supporters, MAGA indexes an effort to return to a time in American history when this country was “great” for some—particularly, propertied white men—but brutally exclusionary for others, most notably women and people of color.”  So Trump supporters want to return to a time of brutal suppression of women and people of color?

Omari goes on to describe how he responded, as if a live cougar was thrown into a closed space:

As my blood boiled inwardly, outwardly I remained calm. In an effort to assuage the perceived tension, I jokingly told the student, “I like your hat,” when he raised his hand to participate in class discussion. Without missing a beat, the student mockingly grinned from ear to ear and said, “Thank you.”

. . .

With this scholarship in mind, I understood why no one else in this particular class—in which whites outnumbered students of color 20 to three (with me, the instructor, being the lone African American)—seemed as vexed as I was. Indeed, in a class with such racial uniformity, it appeared frivolous to rely on students to speak up on my behalf, as one of my associates suggested. An informal survey of my colleagues revealed that no other law faculty had experienced any students wearing such propaganda in their classes, which furthered my contention that this student was indeed trying to intimidate and/or racially antagonize me.

It is interesting how Omari’s statement about “liking your hat” was not mocking but the student’s response of “thank you” was mocking.  It was also insulting to say that, because the fact that the other students were white,  it was “frivolous to rely on students to speak up on [his] behalf.” It was frivolous not because of race but because his point was frivolous.  The mere fact that some kid wears a MAGA hat does not mean that he is a racist or that he is trying to racially intimidate an African-American professor.

Omari simply concludes that the hat was by definition improper and inciting but that he would receive no support given his position and race:

But when students fail to live up to such professional expectations, what are the professors’ options? Although my position is at a private university, I understood that my lack of tenure, precarious status as a VAP and the hue of my skin meant that I would be fighting an uphill battle should I have asked the student to remove his distracting red hat during class. Surely, there must be protocol when African-American professors—whose presence is scarce in most law schools—find their authority defiantly undermined by an insensitive student.

Of course, it would have been an “uphill battle” to ask for the removal of the hat unless he was asking for the removal of all hats and clothing of all political viewpoints from Antifa hats to pro-choice hats to NRA hats.  Omari assumed that the interpretation of the hat (which is not shared by many) was manifestly true. This is part of the trend that we have discussed on campuses where speech is being curtailed as racist or microaggressive based on how it is perceived by others as opposed to how it is intended.  In this case, the hat has different meaning to different people.  Yet, Omari believes that it should have been barred from the classroom.

Nevertheless, The ABA Journal thought that this harrowing encounter with a MAGA hat in a class warranted publication.  Why?

 

 

 

189 thoughts on “Law Professor: MAGA Hat “Undeniable Symbol Of White Supremacy””

  2. Another obnoxious and emotionally-disordered person in a faculty position. You want to know who is responsible, look in the mirror.

  4. OMARI DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT DEMOCRATIC PLANTATION

    Here Professor Turley reprises his frequent role of baffled observer. Does J T believe that myth about the Democratic Plantation?

    Blacks don’t buy that myth. Instead they’re wary of Trump. Arrogant old Trump from the Birther Movement. The guy who hates Obama!

    Blacks live and work in close proximity to Hispanics. So if Trump seems bellicose to Hispanics, Blacks have cause for worry. Whites nasty to Hispanics can’t be good for Blacks.

    White men stirring Whites into fits of rage are never good for Blacks. Blacks understand this from decades of conditioning. “Why is Trump so mad?”, they wonder. It’s a fair question. Every day Trump is railing at some imagined slight.

    So if you wonder why Blacks are leery of Trump, that’s the reason, there; “White man getting Whites all mad”. Easy to remember. That visual image, “Angry, small town Whites”, never plays that well to people of color.

    2. Honey bun, there’s lots of people of all colors who hate Obama and know he’s a fraud.

      1. Estovir, why are you calling me “Honey bun”?? That sounds creepy, dude!

        1. Am I to believe this commenter calling me “Honey Bun” is some earthy Black woman who quietly reads these threads?

          She normally doesn’t comment because Alan expresses her sentiments. But Alan wasn’t around to hold me in check.

          So this earthy Black woman had to reveal herself. And that’s why she called me “Honey bun”. So readers would know at once she’s an earthy Black woman.

          Curiously this earthy Black woman hates Obama as much as any Trumper. She has no problem with Whites in MAGA hats. Good Blacks know those hats are worn by the finest Christians.

          So this leaves me in a lurch. Now I have to explain why this earthy Black woman didn’t parrot the liberal line. She must know about the Democratic Plantation. Which totally contradicts the points I was making.

          See how that happens? An ‘Anonymous’ commenter calls you ‘Honey bun’ and suddenly your argument is totally vaporized.

          1. Democrats already enslaved black people now they’re working overtime to enslave ALL people. This is a truth bomb from my friends Diamond and Silk. President Trump doesn’t want to put “y’all back in chains” like Joe Biden said. No sir, President Trump is putting y’all back to work. Jobs Jobs Jobs.

    3. Peter, one has to be pretty low to stoke the fires of racism. How much lower can one go just to promote a failed ideology?

  6. “For Omari, the incident was chilling since he declares the MAGA hats worn by many conservatives to be per se racist symbols.”

    He must have some serious cognitive dissonance when he sees Kanye West wearing one.

  7. We all know there is no such thing as white supremacy and all men are equal.

    America doesn’t need affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, rent control, social services, forced busing, minimum wage, utility subsidies, WIC, TANF, HAMP, HARP, Education, Labor, Obongocare, Obongophones, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing,” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc., etc., etc.

    It’s merit that matters – freedom, free enterprise, private property and merit!

    Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!

    We can get rid of generational welfare, affirmative action, and the rest of the communistic redistribution of wealth and social engineering now!

  8. People got to use there brain the Media is causing division in our Country trying to make us fight each other divide and conquer the maga hat has been worn by all poeple of color and all Americans of color I am a proud blackman and I am a proud American my grandfather fought in two wars for our Country there is no perfect Country there is no perfect man or woman or leader but we need to be greatful of what we got and work on making it better together we need to look at the Good in our Country I am a decendant of a ancient people my ancestors built this Country we Americans must Unite black,brown,yellow,white people I am proud to be American there is nothing wrong with being Patriotic

    3. Right on, bro.

      Can we get rid of generational welfare, affirmative action, quotas, social services, Obongocare, Social Security Disability, food stamps, public housing, forced busing, Medicaid, WIC, HAMP, HARP, HUD, HHS, etc., etc., etc., now?

      I, for one, would like my freedom back now.

  9. These socialist are bunch of idiots. Racism they use the word way too often they’re just idiots I say if it pisses them off where it even more

  10. I have seen people of color wear the Maga Hat blacks,mexican,asians,weman

    1. Its just a hat get over it people we need to worry more about the homeless people in our country instead of what someone is wearing

  11. JT should know his audience, if it’s the posters here, and predictably they’re getting worked up over nothing – again. Read the other law professor’s column – the thoughtful one, not JT’s. He doesn’t say what JT accuses him of, or worse what all the yahoos here imagine he did. But y’all love to be victims, so have fun pretending you are.

    1. I read the article.

      “As the student sat there directly in front of me, his shiny red MAGA hat was like a siren spewing derogatory racial obscenities at me for the duration of the one hour and fifteen-minute class.”

      How?

      “Surely, there must be protocol when African-American professors—whose presence is scarce in most law schools—find their authority defiantly undermined by an insensitive student.”

      How was his authority ‘defiantly’ undermined? Defiant against what?

      How is the student being insensitive?

      1. Because Democrats believe OTHERS are responsible for how THEY feel about what OTHERS wear, say, or do. Dems want to CONTROL other people so that THEY (the Dems) can feel safe, secure, in control, and basically okay. If someone else wears something, says something, or does something that makes THEM uncomfortable, then THAT OTHER PERSON’s BEHAVIOR is the PROBLEM, the cause, and they must be condemned, shamed, stopped. In other words, OTHER people are in charge of how sensitive progressive Dems FEEL and react. So that means the Dems are NOT in control of themselves? Other people control how THEY feel and act? Can you see the victim mentality at work? If what I do, say, or wear, controls how YOU feel, act, or react, then that gives ME a whole lot of power OVER you, doesn’t it?

        Kanye said his red MAGA hat gave him “power.” And if him wearing his red MAGA hat makes you go beserk and call for violence, shaming, and shunning, then that hat makes Kanye pretty powerful. He is wearing a red hat that makes YOU go beserk and emotionally over react. Who’s holding the power in that moment? It’s Kanye. Not the triggered Democrat. Get it?

        1. And just because YOU are offended by my red MAGA hat because of the meaning YOU assigned to it, is NOT enough of a reason to ban all red MAGA hats from existence or stop ME from wearing my red hat as I choose.

          Because maybe someone else is offended by YOUR cross necklace. Or offended by your turbin on your head. Or offended by the swords of Islam on your earrings. Or offended by your red commie hammer and sickle tshirt. Or offended by your tatoo of a naked lady on your arm. Or offended by your Obama Hope and Change tshirt. Or offended by a BERNIE button. Or offended by your NE Patriots hat. Or offended by the Chief Wahoo on your Cleveland Indians hat. Or….or….or……it will never end…..

          So people! Wear your red MAGA hats proudly and freely. Even in college classrooms with triggered activist professors. It’s THEIR problem, not yours. Why? Because we live in America!

          1. Summing up….I’m not responsible for how YOU feel about something I do or say or wear. YOU are. If YOU overreact to my red hat, that’s not my problem. It’s yours. YOU are in charge of your own feelings, not me. What my red hat means to me is not the same as it means to you. So, deal with it. It’s called freedom.

            1. PS In case it isn’t obvious, these posts refer to the collective “you” not the previous commenter Prarie Rose.

          2. The professor ruminates on the propriety of wearing any political gear – students or faculty – to a class which is supposed to focus on serious issues in a serious reflective manner. He doesn’t state that should be policy, and while he reacts viscerally to the MAGA hat – apparently the only political gear in the class – does not single that out as the only gear that he’d like to see left at the door.

            As to whether a slogan wishing for a return to the past is racist or not , and beyond the fact that there are so few blacks who share that aspiration that the same nutcase from Miami Who was involved in a past murder case and some weird religious cult is shipped to Trump rallied and placed in camera view behind him – the past is not a good thing for most black Americans and they don’t tend to romanticize it. Can you blame them?

    2. Anon, one last thing…

      You said: “But y’all love to be victims, so have fun pretending you are.”

      Back atcha buddy. It’s the Democrat schtick, isn’t it? VICTIMHOOD! Looky here! Red hats! I’m offended! Ahhhh! Oh no!!! Racist!!! Eeek. Yowza. Holy moly You Trump supporters are all racists white supremacists!!! Y’all racists!!!!

      Can you hear how stupid y’all sound? Y’all having fun pretending to be victims of the red hat trauma??

      1. As demonstrated here daily and by even their motto, Trump supporters thrive on resentment and payback to the perceived “elites” which some how include the poorest people in America. Principles take a backseat to defending whatever Trump says or does, as long as he continues to flick off the their persecutors.

  12. These hat-hating people make inane assumptions so we must as well. We must assume they hate America and everything that made America great. We should assume he is a traitor and will do anything he can to destroy our country. And since he makes inane assumptions, I think we should feel confident that our assumptions are equally valid. Let’s put this American hating, traitor in jail! Or beat him up!! Or burn down his university !! WHY – because that’s what he approves of!!

    1. You’ve definitely identified the traitor, good job. But no one that I’ve heard is advocating “beating him up.” just voting him out of office, and then indicting him for obstruction and whatever the New York state prosecutors discover.

      this is to “I finally stopped pretending” sbg

      1. “…and whatever the New York state prosecutors discover.”

        Exactly. Show me the man and we’ll discover a crime. We’ll just keep searching until we “discover” a crime.

  13. “Undeniable Symbol Of White Supremacy”
    _________________________________

    Did you mean it is a symbol of undeniable white supremacy?

    Has anyone ever theorized red supremacy, yellow supremacy, brown supremacy or, wait for it, black supremacy?

    Why is there desperate and forcible imposition of irrefutably unconstitutional generational welfare, affirmative action privilege, forced busing, quotas, social services, Obongocare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability, WIC, TANF, HAMP, HARP, HUD, HHS, etc., etc., etc.?

    Why are the “emulsifiers” of redistribution of wealth and social engineering used to force and impose contrived, unconstitutional, compulsory integration between the oil and water which do not mix spontaneously?

    The first man on the moon, the wealthiest nation in history, a financial empire upon which the sun never sets, slaves that refuse to leave, endless hordes of parasitic foreign invader hyphenates illegally stealing their way into the country…

    Res ipsa loquitur – the physical axiom of white supremacy is axiomatic – a self-evident truth that requires no proof.

  15. It’s not a symbol of white supremacy but keep ranting like this and you will bring white supremacy into fashion again. I never wanted a Confederate flag until you folks pitched a fit about it. Now I think I need one.

  16. Pingback: ‘Undeniable Symbol’ of White Supremacy? Law Professors Duel Over the Meaning of the MAGA Hat – Attorney Lawyer List

  17. Trump supporters have turned that red hat INTO a symbol of white supremacy as much as the Klan and other white supremacy used the Stars and Bars as a symbol. And don’t kid yourself, they know it, and they wave it just as proud.

      2. You are either pretending that the percentage of minority racial groups who wear the red hat are no different than the percentage of minority racial groups in the entire population, or you really bite hard on the claptrap hannity and rush spew.

        America is a country of 315 million + population. The fact that you have to reach for a handful of minority exceptions who will put on a red hat in reality proves the rule. Similarly, a handful of blacks fought for the confederacy; but it would be ludicrous to argue that “blacks favored slavery,” just as it’s ludicrous to argue that “black enjoy a traitor in the White House.”

        this is a teaching moment for allen / allan

        1. Mark, the fact that dirt bags like you condemn every black or brown person that wears a MAGA hat or has a conservative ideology tells us just the type of fellow you are, narrow minded and quite unintelligent.

          By the way Lincoln freed the slaves while you were dressing up in white.

    2. How ’bout Trump supporters are wearing the political paraphernalia of their choosing because it represents the candidate they believe in? And this is a free country? What about the Obama supporters who wear Che Guavera shirts? or Communist Red?? Should they be harrassed? Attacked? Shunned? Oh no, because that’s the Dems. But Republicans? Oh no, THEY must be shunned, stopped, shamed, attacked.

      What YOU think about the symbolism of the red MAGA hat is YOUR opinion. It ain’t THE TRUTH. Get it?

      1. And these college profs let anyone wear whatever the heck they want UNLESS they are showing Republican or conservative politician support?? Can a student freely wear a CNN hat, but not a FOX News hat? A commie tshirt but not a Trump tshirt?

        These progressive activist college profs need to be put in their place. Meaning…fire their asses. Like, yesterday.

  18. MAGA hat = antagonistic racist. Shame on all white people who don’t directly confront, shame, and shun them all. And yes I back my words with action.

    1. Action? Meaning what? Physical assault? Shame on all white people? What about the “other nonwhites” who wear the red hat and support President Trump? Assault them too?

      PS Turn off BSNBC.

      2. What about Kanye? Shun and shame him? Tell him he’s not allowed to express hisself the way he chooses? Tell him he can’t support the president he chooses? Tell him he cannot wear his red MAGA hat? Is this still America?

        PS Turn off CNN.

    2. Check out Kanye. He’s got red hair at his Sunday Service. He supports Trump. What if he wore his red MAGA hat? Shun him? Diss him?

      You are brainwashed by the moron media, my friend. Big. Time.

    3. I’m brown Hispanic wearing a MAGA hat and I’m waiting for you.😊

  19. Well, too bad JT has to misrepresent the professor’s column to make his lame point. No where does he say the hat should be barred from the classroom as policy though it clearly made him uncomfortable. Being white may be the difference in JT’s reaction, but it is clearly an arguable proposition – not a fact one way or the other – whether MAGA is a racist movement. That the movement is as lily white as anything gets nowadays is not proof it is, but JT’s apparent certainty that it isn’t is no more a given than the prof’s reaction.

    Our host sure waste’s his time on some real inconsequential STUFF, though the law professor’s column is thoughtful and searching.

    1. Did you see where the head of BET, Black Entertainment Television, just said that Trump has done more to help black employment, and the economy, etc than Obama? That he did not support any of the two dozen Democrat presidential candidates at this point? That’s right. Blacks and Latinos know exactly what is happening FOR THEM because of Trump and his policies. Before he got elected as a Republican president, Trump was well liked and beloved by the black community in New York. Ask Al Sharpton. Ask Jesse Jackson. If Sharpton wasn’t sucking Obama’s you know what, he’d admit that Trump is a good friend to the black community. They all know it. But politics takes precedence over TRUTH.

      https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democrat-bet-founder-praises-trump-says-party-moved-too-far-to-the-left

      “Black Entertainment Television founder and Democrat Robert Johnson praised President Donald Trump for the state of the economy and also accused the Democratic Party of going too far to the Left in an interview with CNBC Tuesday.

      “The party in my opinion, for me personally, has moved too far to the Left,” Johnson told Hadley Gamble. “For that reason, I don’t have a particular candidate (I’m supporting) in the party at this time.”

  20. From my (progressive) perspective as a black man living in the increasingly polarized political climate that is America, MAGA is an undeniable symbol of white supremacy and hatred toward certain nonwhite groups.

    Omari needs to get his perspective checked.

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