When Adults Lose All Sense Of Propriety, Children Suffer

There are times when it seems the very foundations of society are crumbling beneath us. Like ancient Rome, we are experiencing an era that seems to be emulating the fall of the once-great empire; are we facing the same fate? Cynicism, vindictiveness, apathy, mental and physical abuse, and hatred - we are a people divided, ideologically, philosophically, and I will include spiritually.

Aside from the domestic crises and the internal strife we are facing, we are also involved, although not physically as a nation, with wars on two fronts, in Ukraine and Israel. There are events and situations, however, although some might be thought of as mundane and insignificant, even petty, compared to everyday challenges, but they still do have an effect on how we think and react. 

Case in point, back in January of 2019 there was an incident at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. There was a confrontation involving two groups, Covington Catholic High School, a group of young pro-life high school students, and the Indigenous Peoples March. There was another group, the Black Hebrew Israelites, who were there just to taunt anyone who crossed their path.

The incident involved two specific individuals, Nicholas Sandman from the Covenant School, and Nathan Phillips a Native American activist from the Omaha Tribe. The two stood face to face, and Phillips was doing all the talking and gesticulating, while Sandman stood by stoically and spoke not a word. In the immediate aftermath of the confrontation, the first videos were interpreted by many in the media, and consequently among the people, that Nickolas Sandman disrespected the elder tribesman.

There was outrage and the usual leftwing virtue signaling by the usual suspects on social media, the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, and the major networks. It got to the point that Sandman and the Covenant School started receiving death threats. The school conducted an investigation with an outside agency, and it was eventually proven that Phillips was the antagonist and Sandman an innocent teenager caught up in the folly of adults. Eventually, the Sandman family sued the media outlets and other assorted parties for libel and won a sizeable sum of money.

This incident would have gone unnoticed by most of the country, had it not been for the cell phone, and the effects, good and bad, that it has had on our lives. These minor disagreements among people, young and old, have a tendency to get blown out of proportion by those with an agenda. Nicholas Sandman is a Christian, and even worse a Catholic. He attended a parochial school and the day of the incident took part in the annual pro-life march. In the minds of the Left, he represents the traditional values, principles, and Judeo-Christian ethic they so disdain.

Here we are almost four years later, and once again we are bothered by another petty, vindictive incident, only this time this one takes the cake. Meet Holden Armenta, a die-hard NFL Kansas City Chiefs fan, who showed up at a game with his face painted, one side red and the other black, the team’s colors, and wearing a Native American headdress. Many Chiefs fans paint their faces in similar fashion. It didn’t take long, less than a day, for the despoilers to attack, not with bows and arrows, but letters and numbers on a keyboard. One in particular is Carron Phillips, no relation to the tribal chief. Phillips is black, and a writer for the online platform Deadspin. He unleashed his attack on Holden accusing him of being a “blackface wearing bigot.”

The headline from Deadspin read “The NFL needs to speak out against the Kansas City Chiefs fan in blackface, Native headdress.” And that he - Holden - “had found a way to hate black people and Native Americans at the same time.” Holden Armenta is 9 years old, and is also part Native American - his grandfather is on the board of the Chumash Tribe in Santa Ynez.

The internet and social media went into overdrive; accusing Phillips of singling out and harassing a child, when in fact other, older fans decorate themselves in a similar fashion. Now you would think Phillips, a 40-year-old man-child, would realize the absurdity of creating a racial incident out of an innocent child’s playful escapade. And that his reckless and pathetic rush to judgment would cause him some measure of shame and embarrassment. But no, he doubled down, and issued this statement “For the idiots in my mentions who are treating this as some harmless act because the other side of his face was painted red, I could make the argument that it makes it even worse.”

Because of all the distress and attention this has caused Holden and his family, they have become the object of scorn by the malcontents on the left. They have threatened to bring a lawsuit against Phillips and Deadspin, if they don’t retract the story, and apologize to Holden for accusing him of being a bigot. If these misanthropes stand their ground, we should all hope they suffer great loss both monetarily and reputation-wise. That would be a good thing, for Holden and his family.