The Covington incident shows conservatives want in on victimhood, too
The Covington Catholic High School boys have been vilified, forgiven, embraced and re-vilified as snippets, clips and movie-feature length videos emerge. Maybe the next video will show them delivering meals to the homeless.
For a solid week now, the country has argued over the MAGA-hatted kids from Park Hills, Kentucky, whose tomahawk chops and perceived smirks nose-to-nose with a Native American elder drew condemnation, death threats and then, as the narrative turned, many warm metaphorical hugs from conservatives.
Yes, life is complicated, and no one snapshot or video clip can ever tell the whole story.
We still saw what we saw, though. Contrary to the statement put out by the PR firm engaged by student Nick Sandmann’s family, their behavior did not look like any form of silent prayer that I’m familiar with.
What we saw wasn’t good. Neither — Do I even have to say this? — was it a reason to dox these young men, or write them off as irredeemable and unforgivable. Their immaturity shouldn’t inspire more of the same.
But when I heard their Republican state representative, Covington grad Adam Koenig, suggesting on NPR that the young people involved don’t have any lessons to learn here, well, that’s a problem, too.
Asked by the interviewer, David Greene, whether they should have done anything differently, Koenig said, “You have individuals who are hurling insults and epithets at you. And that’s an uncomfortable situation to be in, especially when you’re in a city that you’ve probably never been in and you’re eight, nine hours away from home. ... And they were just trying to make it into a positive situation or get rid of the nervous energy associated with being in that situation.”
Is this a teaching moment, then, Greene pressed?
“What America needs to know,” Koenig said, “is that people don’t need to be rushing to judgment.”
That’s it?
This isn’t just one guy’s take, either; conservative America is not just defending their honor but extolling their virtue. Covington backer Nick Boschert said of Sandmann that he “would be proud if he were my son.”
So there’s really nothing in between death threats and a trip to Disney for these young men? Paradoxically, this lack of perspective also rewards professional provocateurs like the tiny group of Black Hebrew Israelites, who in return for their usual taunting finally got the kind of attention they crave.
My President Donald Trump-supporting parents were the kind of Republicans who taught us personal responsibility, even in situations for which we were not solely to blame. Is that not a thing any more, in Trump’s GOP?
Just as those trying to “ruin” these kids are wrong, so are those trying to rob them of the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
Not at all surprisingly, this includes the object of their admiration, the president. Trump has defended them on Twitter, saying the lesson here is “how evil” the news media can be. According to Fox News host Laura Ingraham, he invited them to the White House, too. Is a parade out of the question?
The lessons for these boys should not be that it’s OK to hate the media, or that you should always have the best possible PR firm on speed dial, or that disrespectful behavior will get you on NBC. The lesson ought to be that there are many people in this world who will yell at you. And when they do, Jesus did not advise that you rip your shirt off and dance, but that you turn the other cheek. Walk away, in other words.
But the pendulum has swung so far away from taking any portion of responsibility that now even a Gillette ad encouraging men to be their best selves is seen as radical, and a cause for great aggrievement. Much as conservatives purport to hate the culture of victimhood, they’re sure eager to get in on it.
This column first appeared in USA Today.
This story was originally published January 24, 2019 at 4:45 PM.
