Should Neo-Nazis Be Fired From Their Jobs? Not If You Ask Them.
Image by Forward Montage
By The Scribe December 5, 2017
A funny thing happened on the way through our recent Nazi poll.
On November 30, the Forward’s opinion editor inquired of the Twitterverse, asking, “Should neo-Nazis be fired from their jobs?”
Should neo-Nazis be fired from their jobs?
— Batya Ungar-Sargon (@bungarsargon) November 30, 2017
In the first few hours of the poll, the dozens of reactions were mixed and nuanced. Around 60% of respondents were pro-firing Neo-Nazis and roughly 40% against. The comments were also generally nuanced.
“If they are just quietly doing their job, no.. if they walk into work flying a swastika flag that might be a problem,” wrote Twitter user @bbbyluvv.
“Depends on the job,” added Forward columnist Bethany Mandel.
And then the tweet was shared by several members of the alt-right, and things escalated quickly.
By the end of the 24-hour polling period, just 23% of the 1886 voters agreed that yes, neo-Nazis should be fired from their jobs.
While this result by itself would have been surprising, the level of vitriol was not — at least for anyone aware of how often Jewish journalists are targeted on Twitter.
“What Hollywood movie should we watch to be shown the Jewish interpretation of what a neo-Nazi is?,” asked one LORDMC, an anonymous Twitter user who posts a lot of what appear to be rejected Windows XP desktop backgrounds.
“Should degenerate communist liberals pushing a jobless socialist state be given free helicopter rides?,” a Twitter user whose avatar is a Pepe the Frog wannabe clad in an American flag hoodie chimed in.
“Should Jews be allowed to control the media and financial institutions of nation’s they comprise 2% of the population of?,” added a penguin avatar with 333 followers.
“Should diaspora Jews stop stirring up racial problems in their host nations?,” asked some clever person who uses the avatar of a tiny frog.
These results, for Twitter, are pretty tame. And yet, they illustrate how easily the anonymous alt-right Twitter trolls can be provoked.
But our question still remains:
Should Neo-Nazis be fired from their jobs? Email us your thoughts.
For more on anti-Semitism, visit The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum or the Anti-Defamation League.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
