Screwed.

ID:186596
 
Jun 4 2005, 10:06 am
To quote my blog:

Wow. Apparently public expression is no longer allowed in public schools.

We had student council elections a few days ago, and I jokingly put "Class Dictator" in the office blank. I got an earful from a teacher for that, so I made the image below.



Printed, it's about an inch by an inch. I handed them to a few friends and we had a good laugh about it. That was on my last day of school.

I'm currently on vacation. I've just found out that apparently that picture pissed off the wrong person, and I'm facing suspension or expulsion for "blatant anti-semitism."

I don't understand how minds can be so twisted to think "swastika = HATE JEWS." It's obvious I wasn't using it in an anti-semetic way - it represented a symbol for opression. Who can think of a better way to express tyranny?

Nonetheless, I'm responsible for the picture. You can trust I'll argue any punishment until I'm blue in the face.
Jun 4 2005, 10:28 am
HavenMaster wrote:
I don't understand how minds can be so twisted to think "swastika = HATE JEWS."

Neither do I, but apparently some Adolph somethingorother guy went and did it and he kind of ruined things for everybody else.

You might as well be asking who in their right mind would think "red cross = medical aid" or "red octagon = stop". The meaning and usage of the swastika has evolved to such a point that you cannot use it without carrying some connotation of anti-semitism (if you disagree, feel free to take a look and see how many groups out there use the Nazi swastika but disavow its anti-semitic symbolism). If you thought otherwise, I believe you're wrong, but I think that's a relatively innocent mistake and not really deserving of any punishment (outside of the standard boring lecture in which the guidance counselor will use the word "hurtful" approximately 20,000 times). Not that I'd hold my breath for the administration to see things that way.
Jun 4 2005, 10:33 am
In response to Leftley
Leftley wrote:
HavenMaster wrote:
I don't understand how minds can be so twisted to think "swastika = HATE JEWS."

Neither do I, but apparently some Adolph somethingorother guy went and did it and he kind of ruined things for everybody else.

I'm pretty sure you understood exactly what I meant. The swastika has multiple meanings, such as its original and intended meaning - prosperity. The holocaust was one thing done under the Nazi flag - why is that the assumed meaning?

You might as well be asking who in their right mind would think "red cross = medical aid" or "red octagon = stop".

Not really. Could you present another logical interpretation of those signs?

The meaning and usage of the swastika has evolved to such a point that you cannot use it without carrying some connotation of anti-semitism (if you disagree, feel free to take a look and see how many groups out there use the Nazi swastika but disavow its anti-semitic symbolism). If you thought otherwise, I believe you're wrong,

The anti-semetic connotation definitely exists, but it should be obvious that was not the intended view here. And I don't think it's fair to say that my completely valid use of a symbol is "wrong."

but I think that's a relatively innocent mistake and not really deserving of any punishment (outside of the standard boring lecture in which the guidance counselor will use the word "hurtful" approximately 20,000 times).

That's what I'm hoping.
Jun 4 2005, 10:33 am
HavenMaster wrote:
I've just found out that apparently that picture pissed off the wrong person, and I'm facing suspension or expulsion for "blatant anti-semitism."

Funny -- I remember telling you exactly this would happen when you first showed me the image. :)
Jun 4 2005, 10:35 am
In response to Malver
Malver wrote:
Funny -- I remember telling you exactly this would happen when you first showed me the image. :)

I deny any recollection of this event and formerly denounce you and all you stand for.
Jun 4 2005, 10:38 am
In response to HavenMaster
HavenMaster wrote:
Malver wrote:
Funny -- I remember telling you exactly this would happen when you first showed me the image. :)

I deny any recollection of this event and formerly denounce you and all you stand for.

Let me pull out the logs:

[22:28] Veley032: Theoretically, you could get expelled. :)
[22:29] dbhavenmaster: Theoretically, that would make my day.
[22:29] dbhavenmaster: Until I got home.
Jun 4 2005, 10:41 am
In response to Malver
Malver wrote:
[22:28] Veley032: Theoretically, you could get expelled. :)
[22:29] dbhavenmaster: Theoretically, that would make my day.
[22:29] dbhavenmaster: Until I got home.

...and I'm not home for another week!

(the renouncing still stands)
Jun 4 2005, 11:27 am
In response to HavenMaster
HavenMaster wrote:
I'm pretty sure you understood exactly what I meant. The swastika has multiple meanings, such as its original and intended meaning - prosperity. The holocaust was one thing done under the Nazi flag - why is that the assumed meaning?

Not only were the Nazi's anti-semitism and racial extremism the most striking features of their particular brand of oppression, it's also the theme that's been carried down most strongly by their hate-group descendants. It's not just an issue of what the symbol meant historically, but how it's used today.

That, however, is a moot point. Symbolic connotations are not just either/or; regardless of the primary meaning you intended to get across, anyone viewing the symbol is going to view it in light of everything it stands for to them. In your original post, you asked "Who can think of a better way to express tyranny?" Well, how about the Soviet hammer and sickle, the fasces, the Islamic crescent, or the Bourbon fleur-de-lis? These all represent, in a certain context, regimes of oppression and tyranny, so technically they would be just as "correct" as using the swastika. But despite certain shared aspects, all these symbols of oppression stand for often radically different ideas, and changing the swastika to any of these equally "correct" symbols would change the meaning of the picture. It is technically correct to say that the Nazi swastika stands for despotic oppression; it is wrong to say that the Nazi swastika does not also stand for anti-semitism, especially in modern use.
Jun 4 2005, 11:37 am
In response to Leftley
Hahaha, thats sweet, and yeah your screwed, people are going to persue this until you get totally reamed.

On a side note, I love the swastika, I love the way it looks, id love to get a black hoodie with a big red swastika on the back, but Id get stoned by people and possibly even arrested.

And I dont even hate the Jews, I just like how the damn swastika looks. =(

Its really not fair that your being nailed for this, but in the end, it happens everywhere.

Any of you remeber the PC game "Abes Odyssey"? in the orginal game, Abe has 4 fingers, when it got popular enough, it was going to go to Japan, since Oddworld is a Amercian game.

Turns out, the 4 fingers was almost like a swastika in japan, making fun of the japan meat workers way back in the day, who lost fingers while meat working.

Japan said, pay $50,000.00 to have the game published with 4 fingers, or slice a finger off. Since at the time Oddworld was still a very small company, they had no other choice but to loose another finger on Abe. But if you look at the books and stuff closely, a few pics slipped in with him and his classic 4th finger.