By Derrick Broze

Activist Post

Another week, another opportunity for the corporate media to send the Internet into a frenzy and divide the nation over a fake controversy based on sloppy news reporting. 

For the last week the “mainstream media” and their loyal followers have been freaking out over a video purporting to show a conflict between a group of Catholic boys attending the anti-abortion March for Life and a group of Indigenous people celebrating Indigenous People’s Day in Washington D.C.

Fake news broadcast every day by US and Australian media has demonised this Trump- supporting boy in Washington DC when Indian Nathan Phillips, beating a drum, fronted the boy during a ‘March for Life’ demonstration. The Catholic boys groups were chanting ‘build the wall’ . The lad is wearing a Make America Great Again (MAGA) cap

The situation became even more toxic due to the fact that the boys were wearing Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats and allegedly shouting “Build The Wall!”.

Meanwhile, Nathan Phillips, one of the indigenous marchers,  walked into the crowd of high school teenagers and eventually stood face to face with a student named Nick Sandman. Phillips played his drum and sang his prayers while staring in the face of the smirking teenager.

Like clockwork, the pundits obsessed over whether the boys smirk was racist and whether he should be crucified. On the other side of the fence we saw Internet sleuths tracking the movements of Phillips to see if it was him who initiated the conflict by forcing his way into the group of innocent Catholic boys. And within days the whole narrative fell apart.

As typical, we now know that the situation was more complex. In fact, it appears a third party – the Black Hebrews or Israelites – caused the most trouble by hurling bigoted epithets at the boys and the Indigenous marchers.

And, once again, the corporate media proves they are not to be trusted (and neither are some of your Facebook friends, apparently). But, rather than simply complain about the lack of accountability and quality of the corporate journalist hacks, I choose to focus on individual personal responsibility.

I want to encourage all consumers of news to hold yourself to a higher standard. Rather than simply reacting to new information and immediately posting on social media, take a few moments to breathe, reflect, and research.

One last point:  It seems the true reason the two groups were in Washington D.C. has been lost in the drama surrounding the interaction between Sandman and Phillips. The Catholic boys were there with their school in support of the March for Life, an annual rally that protests the legality of abortion.

Nathan Phillips and the Indigenous marchers were in D.C. to raise awareness on environmental issues facing Indigenous communities, as well as the thousands of Indigenous women who have gone missing in the U.S. and Canada.

The boys and other supporters attending the March for Life likely felt the same sense of urgency the supporters of the Indigenous People’s Day expressed. Both groups feel strongly about their causes; but instead of talking about those issues, the media has been focusing on whether a smirk was racist. Turn off the television and take control of your own mind.