Digital literacy requires a diverse and complex skill set in our ever-evolving media landscape. It is difficult to navigate as an adult, much less teach effectively--but I am increasingly convinced that the skills to critically interpret the onslaught of media and to communicate clearly are the most vital instruction we can provide our students. As much as I love literature and narrative, I increasingly find myself prioritizing strategies to decode the torrent of information and disinformation that inundates us and our students every hour of every day. This summer, I had a disturbing object lesson in the susceptibility of our rural communities to insidious online hate organizers.
Some of you may have heard of Tom Kawczynski, the Jackman Nazi who was ousted when the community didn't buy his white separatist utopian sewage. He resurfaced this past summer, this time in central Maine, with outreach and recruiting in the form of the Maine for Mainers Facebook page and in-person meetings (exposed through the "White Supremacist Picnic" fliers that prompted a round of right wing radio appearances and attempts to exonerate himself). Following his firing, Tom had been busy pontificating on the impending race war and working to capitalize on his martyrdom and raise his profile in national white supremacist networks. He connected with like-minded purveyors of white grievance (like neighboring New Hampshire native Chris Cantwell, the “Crying Nazi” of Charlottesville fame) and tried to build his following in overtly supremacist forums like Gab, while soft-pedaling his extremist agenda in the guise of Maine for Mainers. He doesn't even conceal his strategy of drawing in fearful and dispossessed locals, casual bigots, and rural nativists who he believes to be prime targets for radicalization. The appeal in Maine’s lack of demographic diversity and the importance of maintaining that 'purity' are pervasive and unifying themes.
Although I was increasingly aware of their presence, and had shared information on the growing white supremacist presence in central Maine, I did not become personally involved until the Maine for Mainers group launched a vile attack on a former student, Mackenzie Swift, who had made a post exposing their activity and membership. She accurately stated that the group was “run by white supremacists” and included state and local politicians and business owners. “It’s a public group,” she wrote, “so if you’re interested in finding out which politicians to make sure not to vote for or which businesses to boycott, go ahead and search the group’s member list.” She also created her own group, "Maine for Everyone," to counter the malicious hate directed against refugees, immigrants, and other vulnerable members of our communities.
In fact, none of the Maine for Mainers founders are actually from Maine— Tom Kawczynski and his extra-fascist ‘trad-wife’ Dana (@Snow_White with her Hitler greeting cards) are Arizona transplants; Kenaz Filan is a New Jersey internet ‘culture warrior’ working to boost his credentials as a white identity theologist; Camille Cheaney-Patterson, who helped orchestrate the ensuing trolling and harassment campaign, is Floridian white supremacist and gun rights activist. On the M4M forum, they promptly launched a concerted harassment effort—mostly veiled threats and defamation—calling her employer (Slates in Hallowell) dozens of times to exert pressure and get her fired. They continued to harass the business with social media spamming, and threatened to show up in person. When Mackenzie contacted me, I worked to connect her with social justice and employment law resources, and also with journalists who I thought might frame the situation clearly.
When others (including myself) began looking into their activity, we immediately became targets ourselves. They began systematically using people to float different kinds of bigotry—I was the test case for anti-Semitism, needless to say, with extra points for (((Rothschild))) tinfoil hat conspiracy theories—trying to ascertain what might gain traction with the group. The harassment directed against Mackenzie, however, continued to escalate. Soon, an extremely distorted media narrative emerged, obtusely focusing around the conflict between Mackenzie and Slates of Hallowell. The restaurant's owner, despite my own efforts to reach out and inform them of the troll storm's origin, reacted with fear and self interest.
The News Center coverage was disappointing and irresponsible, framing the story as a "social media fire storm" rather than a pernicious white supremacist group trying to operate under the radar, attacking the people who worked to expose them and dividing our communities by leveraging the fears of civic and business establishments. This predictably fed into Tom Kawczynski and Co.'s both sides sewage, as they worked assiduously to spin the narrative into further attacks on Mackenzie and her family. Kenaz Filan's 5th rate Goebbels blog was shared gleefully on M4M, and apparently its title, Europa's Children, didn't seem to ring many bells in the wake of Identity Europa's role in the deadly Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally.
Unwilling to cede reality in the face of this toxin, I worked to connect Mackenzie with more thoughtful and informed journalists. She told her story on WERU's Radioactive with clarity, composure, and insight that made me proud to have had any part in her education. I spoke to Maine Beacon writer Dan Neumann, who did an excellent job providing perspective and focus, and locating the white supremacist beliefs and tactics within a broader national story. Followup investigative reporting by Nathan Bernard added a degree of class analysis that elucidated the ways that white supremacy does business, and will hopefully make it harder for hate to gain purchase in our state.
Some of you may have heard of Tom Kawczynski, the Jackman Nazi who was ousted when the community didn't buy his white separatist utopian sewage. He resurfaced this past summer, this time in central Maine, with outreach and recruiting in the form of the Maine for Mainers Facebook page and in-person meetings (exposed through the "White Supremacist Picnic" fliers that prompted a round of right wing radio appearances and attempts to exonerate himself). Following his firing, Tom had been busy pontificating on the impending race war and working to capitalize on his martyrdom and raise his profile in national white supremacist networks. He connected with like-minded purveyors of white grievance (like neighboring New Hampshire native Chris Cantwell, the “Crying Nazi” of Charlottesville fame) and tried to build his following in overtly supremacist forums like Gab, while soft-pedaling his extremist agenda in the guise of Maine for Mainers. He doesn't even conceal his strategy of drawing in fearful and dispossessed locals, casual bigots, and rural nativists who he believes to be prime targets for radicalization. The appeal in Maine’s lack of demographic diversity and the importance of maintaining that 'purity' are pervasive and unifying themes.
Although I was increasingly aware of their presence, and had shared information on the growing white supremacist presence in central Maine, I did not become personally involved until the Maine for Mainers group launched a vile attack on a former student, Mackenzie Swift, who had made a post exposing their activity and membership. She accurately stated that the group was “run by white supremacists” and included state and local politicians and business owners. “It’s a public group,” she wrote, “so if you’re interested in finding out which politicians to make sure not to vote for or which businesses to boycott, go ahead and search the group’s member list.” She also created her own group, "Maine for Everyone," to counter the malicious hate directed against refugees, immigrants, and other vulnerable members of our communities.
In fact, none of the Maine for Mainers founders are actually from Maine— Tom Kawczynski and his extra-fascist ‘trad-wife’ Dana (@Snow_White with her Hitler greeting cards) are Arizona transplants; Kenaz Filan is a New Jersey internet ‘culture warrior’ working to boost his credentials as a white identity theologist; Camille Cheaney-Patterson, who helped orchestrate the ensuing trolling and harassment campaign, is Floridian white supremacist and gun rights activist. On the M4M forum, they promptly launched a concerted harassment effort—mostly veiled threats and defamation—calling her employer (Slates in Hallowell) dozens of times to exert pressure and get her fired. They continued to harass the business with social media spamming, and threatened to show up in person. When Mackenzie contacted me, I worked to connect her with social justice and employment law resources, and also with journalists who I thought might frame the situation clearly.
When others (including myself) began looking into their activity, we immediately became targets ourselves. They began systematically using people to float different kinds of bigotry—I was the test case for anti-Semitism, needless to say, with extra points for (((Rothschild))) tinfoil hat conspiracy theories—trying to ascertain what might gain traction with the group. The harassment directed against Mackenzie, however, continued to escalate. Soon, an extremely distorted media narrative emerged, obtusely focusing around the conflict between Mackenzie and Slates of Hallowell. The restaurant's owner, despite my own efforts to reach out and inform them of the troll storm's origin, reacted with fear and self interest.
The News Center coverage was disappointing and irresponsible, framing the story as a "social media fire storm" rather than a pernicious white supremacist group trying to operate under the radar, attacking the people who worked to expose them and dividing our communities by leveraging the fears of civic and business establishments. This predictably fed into Tom Kawczynski and Co.'s both sides sewage, as they worked assiduously to spin the narrative into further attacks on Mackenzie and her family. Kenaz Filan's 5th rate Goebbels blog was shared gleefully on M4M, and apparently its title, Europa's Children, didn't seem to ring many bells in the wake of Identity Europa's role in the deadly Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally.
Unwilling to cede reality in the face of this toxin, I worked to connect Mackenzie with more thoughtful and informed journalists. She told her story on WERU's Radioactive with clarity, composure, and insight that made me proud to have had any part in her education. I spoke to Maine Beacon writer Dan Neumann, who did an excellent job providing perspective and focus, and locating the white supremacist beliefs and tactics within a broader national story. Followup investigative reporting by Nathan Bernard added a degree of class analysis that elucidated the ways that white supremacy does business, and will hopefully make it harder for hate to gain purchase in our state.
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