Source: Brett Carlsen / Getty
The age of Trump has seemingly reinvigorated some of the worst white people alive in the form of Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and violent bigots drunk off “patriotism”. These groups pose a real threat to Black Americans, the LGBTQ community, and to many other minority groups as well. Recently, a Nazi rally in Lincoln Heights, Ohio also reinvigorated a community of people who are willing to put it all on the line for a righteous cause.
According to an NBCNews report, the majority Black town has organized their own protective unit to stave off the return of the Third Reich. The Lincoln Heights Safety and Watch (LHSW) program began on February 7 after white men with shaved heads spewed racist slurs and paraded flags emblazoned with swastikas around the town with a population of just over 3,000. A man who would only be identified as “Jay” spoke to this closeness saying, “We have a very tight community, so all of our kids, they know us.”
What alarmed the Black community in Lincoln Heights as much as the Nazi jubilee was the fact that the police department gave their tacit consent. Both the Evendale Police Department and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office were present the day of the rally but no arrests were made and no names or notes were taken. Evendale Mayor Richard Finan excused officers’ egregious apathy saying that the priority was “de-escalation” to avoid violence.
Sounds like he’s scared of the Nazis. But when it comes to policing Black folks, de-escalation is nowhere to be found. Funny how that works.
A spokesperson for LHSW named Daronce Daniels says the community decided that they were on their own in regards to their safety. While the rifles, masks, and tactical gear may look intimidating, Daniels says their presence is comforting to many who live in Lincoln Heights.
“I’ve never felt safer as a Black man in my community than I have right now,” Daniels said. “These are my friends. These are my cousins, my brothers, my sisters, my aunties.”
A local business owner named Eric Ruffin says the Nazis harassed him while he was driving home from work.
“What I don’t understand is how I can be standing here in America in 2025 and somebody can walk up to my window with a swastika and have guns and call me the N-word and law enforcement watch,” Ruffin said.
We don’t understand it either, brotha,
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