A Portland TV station reported several weeks ago (I just ran across a pointer to this in a recent news story):
Teenager Under Fire For Wearing Hitler T-Shirt
Jewish Teachers, Students Offended . . .
On the first day of Passover, freshman David Herbison wore a shirt with a quote from Hitler advocating gun control. He says it is actually a commentary against gun control.
“It’s something that’s going to be an idea that some people don’t agree with, and I knew that going in. But it had no intent of being offensive or anything like that,” Herbison told KOIN 6 News.
School officials say some Jewish teachers and students were offended. Administrators say they support Herbison’s right to free speech but want him to participate in a forum with others who may disagree with him. . . .
The Oregonian also covered this story.
The strange thing about this is that the quote is clearly not an attempt to endorse Hitler — it’s an attempt to discredit gun control by means of linking it to Hitler. It only works precisely because the speaker and the listeners believe Hitler to be a monster.
If Jewish teachers and students didn’t understand this, then they should have at least asked the student, who I’m sure would have made his point clear for them. If they did understand this but think that it’s somehow inherently wrong to ever quote Hitler on anything, then it seems to me that they’re just mistaken.
On the other hand, apparently the student should be faulted for another reason: If this is the Hitler quote that I think it is, then it’s apparently bogus.
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