I lived in DC for four years and those Black Hebrew Israelites were the worst. They used to (and probably still do) stand on one of the busiest street corners in the city every Friday afternoon, in military garb with graphic posters of bloody fetuses, blasting everyone ending their workweek telling them they are going to hell, blasting white people, blasting Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. The main guy has a deep, baritone voice and uses a loudspeaker set at the maximum setting so you can literally hear him for blocks. Tourists from Ohio and locals alike. I'm not surprised that they were at the March for Life and if they were arguing with the students, I can understand why the boys were in a confrontational mood.
Liberals need to realize that racism is a two-way street. Yeah white folk have more institutional power and systemic advantage, but that doesn't mean POC racism isn't out there or that it isn't hurtful at all. It's hypocritical to blast it in one instance but ignore it in another.
The BHI cult weren't there as part of the March for Life. They were standing there at the base of the steps to the Lincoln Memorial so they could yell at the Native American group that were gathered nearby, calling them idolators and saying that God had punished them for their sins by taking away their land. Once the students showed up, they directed their yelling mostly at them instead.
When I initially saw a very short video clip of the encounter with Phillips and the students, I found their behavior disturbing. But the more I looked into this, the more striking thing is just the failure of adults on every side of this. Yes, a lot of these students were acting immature and culturally insensitive. They should have been taught better. They should have been advised not to wear MAGA hats, as this could cause distraction. Where were the chaperones? Maybe when crazy cultists are calling your students "f****ts" and "coons," or activists cuss at them at tell them they need to go back to Europe, it's time to adjust your plans and have them wait for the bus somewhere else! And maybe the newsmedia shouldn't run with these students being the villains in this situation, with no criticism for the adults who were verbally attacking them & other adults. Famous people tried to get minors doxxed and called them "punchable." Meanwhile the school, the diocese, and a lot of influential Catholics and pro-lifers immediately went into self-preservation mode, harshly putting the blame on the kids in order to try to distance the controversy from their institutional reputations, before taking time to investigate and reflect.
While many of these students clearly need to learn how to display respect for American Indian cultures, they should at least be given some credit for the way they embraced the black boys among their group when they were singled out for abuse by the Black Israelites, or how they pushed back against their vicious anti-gay comments. But of course they won't; doesn't fit the narrative.
