MAGA Teen Nicholas Sandmann and the White Privilege of RedemptionIn this op-ed, Teen Vogue wellness

MAGA Teen Nicholas Sandmann and the White Privilege of Redemption

In this op-ed, Teen Vogue wellness editor Brittney McNamara explains why a confrontation between the teens in MAGA hats and a Native elder is just a symptom of a larger problem.

When unarmed teen Mike Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson, he was called “no angel.”Tamir Rice was 12 years old when police shot and killed him as he played in a park; it took police only two seconds to make a judgment and pull the trigger because they thought he was carrying a gun. These two young people were essentially indicted and sentenced to death without any court involvement, not because they had committed a crime, but because police made snap decisions about who they were. Countless other boys and men of color have died this way, and rather than getting a fair trial, they are often posthumously vilified in the court of public opinion.

But when a white teenager does something bad, he seems more likely to get the benefit of the doubt.

We’re seeing this racist double standard play out in real time, thanks to Nicholas Sandmann, who has been given the chance to explain viral images and videos of him and his classmates laughing and chanting face-to-face with Nathan Phillips, an Omaha elder, who stood beating a drum in prayer. The combination of Nicholas’s physical stance, his smirk, and the group wearing MAGA attire sent the story into a viral tailspin, and a he-said-he-said debate ensued. No matter which video you watch — the longer one, or the shorter viral clip — the teens appear to be disrespectful, at the very least, taunting and harassing at worst.

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