Those students were certainly not conscious of all of this. Yet that is exactly the danger: what is the likely outcome of the unconscious energy of 100 young men in a tense situation? And I'm not saying that only young men are violent. Every one of us has that potential. And surely, if there had been even one angry older adult with those students, egging them on, there would have been a terrible outbreak of violence directed at the most vulnerable targets -- for that is what group psychology dictates. Indeed, militaries and para-militaries have exploited this for thousands of years. Young men that age tend to do what the gym teacher wants.
There were 5 chaperones with the boys, who encouraged them to shout back at the other protesters. If the chaperones hadn't done so the whole situation with Nathan would never have happened. Nathan was trying to defuse the tension between the two different protest groups. But the situation could easily have escalated into something far worse, and the adults in charge seemed to have no inclination to stop it if it did. Looking at it from this angle I can see why Nathan did what he did.
Maybe it's a good thing it happened. The events you described above that happened to your family are just escalations of that same kind of ugly energy. Nathan's way is a better way to defuse it than fighting fire with fire. Nathan showed us that day how best to deal with ugly crowds.
I'm so sorry for what your family and many families like yours have been through because of racial violence. It makes me sick.
Again, there is but a thin veil between civilization and savagery. And we need to step up to make sure it holds.
Individual 1 and his minions are showing us just how close we are to total savagery in this country, We all do need to step up. As Nathan did. Meanwhile I'm glad you're my friend and I have the benefit of your wise counsel.
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