The following is a critique from anti-fascists in Memphis Tennessee on the ongoing conflicts in Memphis over Confederate statues.
According to Google, cog·ni·tive dis·so·nance: noun; PSYCHOLOGY is the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change.
Wikipedia presents a more thorough explanation:
Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. This discomfort is triggered by a situation in which a belief of a person clashes with new evidence perceived by that person. When confronted with facts that contradict personal beliefs, ideals, and values, people will find a way to resolve the contradiction in order to reduce their discomfort.
These are by no means scholarly definitions, but during our interactions with Confederate 901 one thing was clear; they are by no means scholars, and the dozen or so-called confederates their leaders George “K-Rack” Johnson managed to sporadically attend a scurry through downtown Memphis suffer from the condition.
Waving a symbol designed by an avowed white supremacist while crying “heritage not hate”, accusing anti-fa instead of being racist. Posing as pacifists while carrying a battle flag on sharpened flag poles. Claiming civil rights violations for not being able to step on private property while declaring themselves advocates of “law and order”; talking about civil rights at all.
Calling on a black lieutenant that the police are there to protect them, while waving anti-fa over to fight from behind the police line they demanded. Denying that they are racists and fascists while flashing white power and Three Percenter hand signs.
The elderly black man in a CSA uniform who used to head a chapter of the NAACP. Declaring the glory and return of the old south in front of its stripped down monuments. These were some of the juxtapositions that bewildered Confederate 901 and seemed outside of the grasp of their understanding.
It seemed like the Johnson’s supporters had been smoking too much of the “K-Rack”, and that he had a tendency to autofellate because his disease had definitely progressed to the point of delusion.
JAM CITY ANTIFA 