Read on Twitter
the qanon viking/shaman cunt we keep seeing pictures of represents many shitty things, but the one i can speak on is that he's a reminder to those of us in hippie/(faux-)spiritual spaces to be vigilant of how often they act as a shroud of harmony for white supremacist ideology.
many white people find these spaces because the trappings of them -- being a hippie, appropriating vague spirituality, aping celtic aesthetics, etc. -- can be used as a convenient shorthand to find a 'culture' of whiteness. for threatened white supremacists, this is a balm.
i engage with these spaces relatively superficially -- via festivals and the art on display at them -- but it's a conversation i try to start among my friends, because i don't feel i'm entwined enough in these events and artforms to do so with people i don't know.
and that's where it gets hard, because to push that observation/conversation threatens the greatest shield that white supremacy enjoys in those spaces; the 'no bad vibes' reflex, which reacts loudly and angrily to questions and observations like that.
never mind that i've been to festivals where actual nazis were removed by police, but not before those nazis spent hours screaming at people and yelling a few homophobic threats at me specifically when i would walk by in my outfits.
'no bad vibes' as a philosophy asks me to ignore that, lest my objection cause discomfort to the 'nicer' people around me (who were tolerating them), even as i felt utterly vulnerable and unsafe. it's a simpering and amorphous positivity that stifles discussion and growth.
white supremacy takes advantage of this and actively fosters it, because there is so little spine to it. if you spend time in these spaces, in any form, be vigilant, start these conversations in advance, add a few ripples to the placid waters of white complacency.
