Outside groups like the KKK, Proud Boys, and Neo Nazi's come into a city to purposely spread division between races by creating a crisis to further their movement. The impact of these groups' protesting can end any meaningful discussion or dialog between city leaders and the community to resolve issues in a public forum. Why are some people motivated to circulate hostile race-dividing information? Because they wish to unleash chaos to "burn down" the entire political order in the hopes that they (their organization) will gain status in the process. The motivations of these groups are to promote divisive, hostile, and political unrest to illuminate differences, not commonalities, and to create manufactured frustrations between the privileged and marginalized groups. By doing this, these groups anticipate to unify the people of Springfield to do the wrong thing. What is the likelihood of citizens of Springfield believing and sharing this hostile information? The probability of citizens believing and sharing this hostile information is exceedingly low.
However, there is reality, and then there is perception. The fact is the ten or so members that peacefully walked around in red shirts, black ski masks carrying Black flags with emblazoned swastikas are looked on as ten completely ignorant, neolithic, backward-thinking dumbasses. The perception of this protest - in which the citizens and city officials have no control of, is fueled by the Local and National media. Was there a need to put this on the front page of a newspaper? No. However, a basic fact in the news media is that if a story involves a brutal death or injury (or the likelihood of it), it will likely get higher ratings. The more lurid the story, the better its chances of being the ratings leader. Making these protest members front page news (even though nothing occurred) will draw an army of news vans like a limping gazelle draws a pride of lions. Groups like the Proud Boys and The Klan will be back because the media jumped on the story, and now it is nationwide news and soon to be played out on social media. Do you want to make these stories go away? Stay as far away from these groups as possible, do not engage or rally against them, and give these groups all the rope they want to hang themselves. You know what they want to do, they want increased media attention, so let the media do their story but not with not one citizen of Springfield in the picture frame. Let's see how long the press covers a lackluster, uneventful rally of hate speech from a bunch of entirely ignorant, neolithic, backward-thinking dumbasses with no Springfield citizens present.
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