When South African-born Elon Musk shows you who and what
he is, you’d better believe him. At President
Donald Trump’s inauguration celebration, Musk
made a gesture that many interpreted as a Nazi
salute, igniting a firestorm of controversy.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) defended
Musk, stating it appeared to be an “awkward
gesture in a moment of enthusiasm” rather than
a Nazi salute.
Nevertheless, the incident has
been celebrated by neo-Nazi groups, who view it
as an endorsement of their ideology.
Let’s talk about Elon Musk, a man drunk on his own power.
This isn’t some naïve Silicon Valley savant
bumbling into controversy. No, Musk knows exactly what he’s doing. He isn’t ignorant - he’s arrogant,
wielding his influence like a bullhorn to
announce to the world, “I can do and say
whatever I want because I’m untouchable.” And
what, exactly, has he chosen to reveal? A
White supremacist worldview, plain as day.
Musk has flipped the veil and declared
himself, not in whispers but with a megaphone,
as a relic of Apartheid South Africa, steeped
in its legacy and evidently quite proud of it.
For those still clinging to the idea that we must “give
him the benefit of the doubt,” I say: Wake up! Musk isn’t misunderstood; he’s the embodiment of his
actions. He is who he tells us he is. Look at
the trail of destruction, the embrace of
far-right ideologies, the platforming of hate
speech on his shiny new toy, Twitter (or X,
because why not rename it after a villainous
corporate dystopia while we’re at it?). This
is no accident, no mishap of a “misguided
genius.” This is Musk, the punk from the land
of Apartheid, playing emperor of his self-made
tech empire while openly admiring the systems
of oppression that propped up his privilege.
A Common
Thread: The Musk-Trump-Nazi Triangle
But Musk isn’t an island. Oh no, he’s part of a much
larger tapestry, one woven with threads of
hate, bigotry, and the ever-persistent stench
of White supremacy. Enter Donald Trump, Elon’s
ideological kin. Trump, the self-proclaimed
heir to “American Exceptionalism,” idolizes
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi propaganda playbook.
Let’s not forget Harlan Crow, the billionaire
buddy of Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas, whose Nazi memorabilia collection
looks like it was plucked straight out of a History Channel nightmare.
This isn’t some fringe
phenomenon; it’s a pattern. Musk’s
unapologetic arrogance, Trump’s MAGA-fueled
demagoguery, and Crow’s fetishization of
fascist history are all symptoms of a larger
sickness: a culture that cannot, will not, let
go of its infatuation with White supremacy.
America: The
Blueprint for Oppression
Let’s take a step back and
connect the dots. America, the land of liberty
and justice for all, right? Wrong. The America
that Trump’s father, Fred Trump, lived in was
a breeding ground for hate. The Ku Klux Klan
paraded in the streets; the North perpetuated
its own brand of racism under a polished
veneer; and the South crafted the blueprint
for systematic oppression. The genocide of
Native Americans, the enslavement of Black
people, the exploitation of immigrant labor -
these weren’t anomalies; they were the
foundation of the empire.
And guess who took notes? Adolf
Hitler and the architects of South African
apartheid. The American model of systemic
racism became their playbook. The brutality,
cruelty, and audacity of this “land of the
free” were admired, emulated, and ultimately
exported as the global standard for
subjugation.
Warmed-Over
Racism: Different Names, Same Stench
Fast forward to today, and what
do we see? The same vile ideologies, just
repackaged. Call it Nazism, the Confederacy,
MAGA, or apartheid - it’s all the same
steaming pile of warmed-over racism, sprinkled
with misogyny, classism, and every other
flavor of xenophobia you can imagine. The WASP
culture that birthed Manifest Destiny and
“American Exceptionalism” is alive and well,
clinging to its delusions of grandeur.
Trump’s America First rhetoric?
Just a 21st-century remix of Manifest Destiny,
with a heaping side of bigotry and a gospel
choir of hate. His unhinged ideas about
renaming mountains, resurrecting racist place
names, and claiming entire gulfs as American
property? That’s not policy; that’s a
declaration of White supremacist manifest
destiny.
The New Face
of an Old Fight
Musk’s antics aren’t just about
a tech mogul gone rogue. They’re a symptom of
a broader societal decay, one that glorifies
oppression and idolizes the worst parts of our
history. From Dead Negro Hollow in Tennessee
to Wetback Tank in Texas, America’s ugly past
isn’t just a memory; it’s a playbook for those
who want to turn back the clock. And Musk,
with his Apartheid roots and unchecked
arrogance, is perfectly positioned to be one
of its loudest cheerleaders.
A Call to Wake
Up
So, no, I won’t give Elon Musk
the benefit of the doubt. I won’t excuse his
behavior as the eccentricities of a
misunderstood genius. He’s shown us who he is.
It’s time we believed him. Because if we
don’t, we’ll find ourselves living in the
future he envisions - a future that looks far
too much like the darkest parts of our past.
