Proud Boys not supremacists

I dispute the opinion letter “Stand against the Proud Boys” (William J. Neville, Nov. 12, 2018). On the face of it, the premise that the Proud Boys are a multicultural white supremacist group doesn’t even make sense! To be clear, the applicants for membership must acknowledge that the Proud Boys is NOT a white nationalist organization and will accept anyone into the fraternity regardless of race. Proud Boys are unapologetically pro-American and are self-described “western chauvinists,” but to say they are white supremacist is just factually inaccurate and intellectually dishonest. Predictably, this was just another tactical progressive attempt to silence discussion of larger issues.

The PC-complicit crowd might find all this uncomfortable, but consider where the popularity of the Proud Boys came from. Back in the day, founder Gavin McInnes stood up to actual whit- power skinheads in local music scenes. Now the political pendulum has moved so far to the left that even masculinity and traditional American values are under siege. Does anyone wonder that Gavin McInnes is again standing up against the intolerance from today’s social justice warriors? To so many, it is refreshing that someone is standing against the insidious liberal aggression.

Rick Libby

Montpelier, Vt.