Hello,
Today’s newsletter centers around the power of a picture. During the weekend, hundreds of masked members of the far-right white nationalist group Patriot Front marched through parts of Washington, D.C., ahead of Independence Day events.
The group posted on social media that it had arrived in the capital with about 400 members. It was one image from our very own Reuters photographers that struck a raw nerve. It showed one Black woman sitting alone surrounded by a group of masked men dressed in Patriot Front outfits traveling on a D.C. Metro train.
Here are some similar stories on racism and human rights that are on my radar today: |
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A commuter sits as members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro on U.S. independence day on the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Cheney Orr |
This falls squarely in the ‘s’ category of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies as it invokes similar imagery captured during the U.S. civil rights era in the 1950s and 1960s. It makes one think of Rosa Parks, whose act of remaining seated became a powerful symbol of resistance against racial injustice, or the photo of Elizabeth Eckford at Little Rock Central High School in 1957 – a single student surrounded by a crowd of opponents while attempting to enter the school.
It raises questions about the parallels between what happened then and what is happening now, and how there are rights afforded to some, but not others. The same group was seen arriving near the U.S. Capitol and the Union Station transit center, covering their faces while waving Confederate and U.S. flags, chanting "Reclaim America."
A Washington Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "MPD recognizes the rights of individuals to peacefully express their views and remains committed to maintaining public safety and security for DC residents and visitors." That statement made me think about whose rights were protected. The group members' right to peacefully express their views was protected. |
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Her right to live free from racial intimidation or harassment. Her right to move freely in public spaces without fear. Her right to equal protection under the law.
"The fact that they feel empowered to engage in public demonstrations during Independence Day and other national holiday events provides a stark illustration of the issues this country is dealing with at this time as it relates to white supremacy," said John Cohen, who held various counterterrorism and intelligence roles in the Homeland Security Department during the Obama and Biden administrations.
Patriot Front formed in 2017 after the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where three people died, including counter-protester Heather Heyer, after white nationalists and their opponents clashed.
A manifesto on Patriot Front's website says, "Democracy has failed this once great nation," and a "hard reset" is needed to "return to the traditions and virtues of our forefathers," identifying them as European settlers.
"At the root, they are indeed a white supremacist organization that is basically campaigning through these public appearances, whether they are flash marches, flyering events, protests, banner drops over highways, trying to spread this message that America is a country by and for white people only," said Luke Baumgartner, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. |
Rescuers evacuate residents following heavy rainfall brought by typhoon Maysak, at a village in Hengzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. cnsphoto via REUTERS |
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China’s deadly tornadoes: Two tornadoes wrought devastation in central China's Hubei province, killing at least 11 people. Tornadoes are extremely rare in Hubei, a major industrial, automotive manufacturing and technology hub, Wang Xiaoling, an expert at the provincial meteorological bureau, told Hubei Daily. Click here for the latest report.
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Venezuela aftermath: Over the weekend, the Venezuelan information ministry raised the official death toll to 3,525 and said nearly 30,000 officials have been deployed alongside 3,281 international rescue workers to help people affected by the quakes. Click here for an insightful recounting of a man who spent two days and seven hours trapped in the rubble before civilians rescued him.
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Rohingya refugee camp landslide: At least eight Rohingya Muslims, including some children, were killed and several others injured after heavy monsoon rains triggered multiple landslides at refugee camps in southeastern Bangladesh on Monday, officials said. The landslides hit four locations across the camps, burying shelters under mud and debris while residents were asleep.
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France’s wildfires: The European Union said it was sending four waterbombing aircraft to France and more than 100 firefighters to help emergency teams in Trevillach near the city of Perpignan, where a wildfire has been burning out of control in southern France and has forced the evacuation of over 10,000 people from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border, officials said.
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Glaciers melting: Snow on Swiss glaciers disappeared weeks earlier than usual this summer under the glare of a European heatwave, pitching the Alps into another year of heavy ice loss, scientists say. Matthias Huss, director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, said three months remained this year for ice that has taken decades or even centuries to build up to melt.
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A white Bengal tiger cub looks on next to its sibling at Cuba's National Zoo, in Havana, Cuba. REUTERS/Norlys Perez |
It’s not all doom and gloom, as I will leave you with a heartwarming story in Cuba, where zookeeper Ángel Cordero shares some joyous news of the birth of endangered Bengal tiger cubs.
Click here to watch a short video of these adorable cubs playing while Juan Carlos Santos, the zoo director, tells Reuters about how the workers managed to maintain high welfare standards for the animals despite the nation's major energy and economic challenges. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Tomasz Janowski. |
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