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Nov 9, 2012-2012

United States of America

Clowns Attack KKK Rally in Charlotte, NC with Humor

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ACTIVISTS/ACT.GROUPS/DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP

Latin American Coalición

TARGET

Neo-Nazis (The National Socialist Movement)/White Supremacists

WIDELY HELD BELIEF

Demonstrations of hate should not be presented, especially publicly, and such activities are not welcome in that community.

CASE NARRATIVE

Issue and Opponent: The National Socialist Movement (NSM), is an organization that specializes in theatrical and provocative protests and is one of the largest and most prominent neo-Nazi groups in the United States. They held a rally at the old City Hall site in Uptown, Charlotte, North Carolina on November 9, 2012. This was part of the annual activities anti-immigration that the organization carries out. Dilemma Action: In November 2012 a group of about 50 neo-Nazis held a rally of about 50 supporters, but over a hundred protesters, dressed as clowns, organized by the Latin American Coalición, a community of Latin Americans in North Carolina that promotes equal participation in the city, came to counter-protest. They brought squeaky toys, whistles, noise-makers, red noses, and flour (when the NSM would say “‘white power’,” the clowns would throw white flour into the air). The message was: “We’re dressed like clowns and you’re the ones that look funny.” Noise from the counter-protestors who circled NSM members largely drowned out the speeches made from a podium. Outcome: The white supremacist protesters were outnumbered by clowns by at least five to one and after two hours, without any violence, the NSM group put down their microphone and left with a police escort. These types of representations seek to add humor to what could become an angry situation, due to the measures usually taken by extreme right-wing groups

PRIMARY STRUGGLE/GOAL

Civil Rights and Equality
Human rights

DA TACTICS USED

Humorous skits and pranks

CASE NARRATIVE WRITER

SUCCESS METRICS

11 / 12

(CONC) Concessions were made

(EREP) Dilemma action got replicated by other movements

(MC) Media Coverage

(MSYMP) Media coverage was sympathetic to the activists

(OR) Opponent response

(PS) Dilemma action built sympathy with the public

(PUN) Punishment favored the activists

(REFR) Dilemma action reframed the narrative of the opponent

(RF) Dilemma action reduced fear and/or apathy among the activists

(SA) Dilemma action appealed to a broad segment of the public

Laugtivism

PART OF A LARGER CAMPAIGN

0 / 3

RESOURCES

Project documentation

Dilemma Actions Coding Guidebook

Case study documentation

Dilemma_Actions_Analysis_Dataset

CC BY 4.0 Deed, Attribution 4.0 International

SOURCES

Rivas, Jorge. 2012. “Clowns Attack KKK Rally in Charlotte, NC with Humor,” ColorLines. Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://colorlines.com/article/clowns-attack-kkk-rally-charlotte-nc-humor/).

WBTV. 2012. “Neo-Nazi/KKK rally draws counter protest, “clowns” group,” Retrieved July 23, 2023. (https://www.wbtv.com/story/20064521/neo-nazikkk-rally-draws-counter-protest-clowns-group/).

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