Creative Ways to Counter Right-Wing Extremism: Trojan T-Shirts
Source: huffingtonpost
When you go through your laundry after pulling it out of the washing
machine, you occasionally have to be prepared for unexpected surprises,
such as seeing that your favorite white tablecloth has acquired a
turquoise hue, or discovering your iPod that had gone missing. However,
when German right-wing extremist music fans went through their laundry
this past week, their surprise was even bigger.
As reported in the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung,
the far-right German political party NPD had organized a rock music
concert in the city of Gera, which was attended by a significant number
of German neo-Nazis. The organizers of the concert also distributed 250
free T-shirts, which they had received as an anonymous donation prior to
the concert. The T-shirts appeared to be fairly typical for the kind of
T-shirts that German right-wing extremists would wear. They were
imprinted with a skull logo and the inscription, "HARDCORE REBELLEN, NATIONAL UND FREI", which translates to, "HARDCORE REBELS, NATIONALIST AND FREE."
When the attendees washed their T-shirts after the concert, however, the logo of the T-shirt changed to "WAS DEIN T-SHIRT KANN, KANNST DU AUCH," which means, "WHAT YOUR T-SHIRT CAN DO, YOU CAN DO TOO,"
reminding the right-wing extremists that they could also change, just
like their T-shirts. The washed shirts also depicted the logo and web
address of "Exit Deutschland"
("Exit Germany"), an anti-extremist organization that tries to help
German right-wing extremists quit the far-right milieu. The organizers
of the concert subsequently sent out messages via Facebook and SMS
to warn the concert attendees about the deceptive nature of the
T-shirts. This action has caused quite a bit of stir among German
right-wing extremists, who felt duped by these "Trojan T-shirts."
However, comments made in German right-wing extremist online
discussion forums after the news broke suggested that some members were
impressed by the strategy of "Exit Deutschland." The co-founder of "Exit
Deutschland," Bernd Wagner, subsequently wrote an excellent commentary,
discussing the "Operation Trojan T-Shirt." In his commentary, Wagner
highlights the importance of using novel approaches to reach out to
right-wing extremists. Conventional protests by left-wing or
progressive-liberal citizens are likely to be seen as "old political
rituals" and will be ignored by right-wing extremists.
The long-term outcome of "Operation Trojan T-Shirt" still needs to be
determined. It is not yet clear whether this will end up being just a
successful media stunt or whether it will actually help convince some
members of the German right-wing extremist scene to disassociate
themselves from their anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic ideology. It
definitely made German right-wing extremists and the general public
aware of the fact that an organization such as "Exit Deutschland"
exists. This organization is available to help and educate people who
want to quit the right-wing extremist scene but may be afraid to do so
because of peer pressure or other obstacles. The fact that some right-wing extremists were impressed by the humor
in "Operation Trojan T-Shirt" also illustrates the need to develop
creative approaches to interact with right-wing extremists. Traditional
ideological sermons that criticize right-wing extremists are likely to
be ignored, but the language of wit and humor may be a more effective
way to communicate with extremists.
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