by Cherokee_Sun » Sun Apr 18, 2010 3:32 am
In 2004 and 2005 he created a film entitled The Line in the Sand as a reaction to widespread demonstrations by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the US, which he, and a hell of a lot of other people, found alarming because of their size and ferocity. There were American flag burnings, racial epithets hurled at non-Mexican-Americans, and an overall atmosphere of triumphalism and animosity by the organizers and demonstrators. I witnessed one such demonstration in person, though I was at some distance. It was quite disturbing.
During the time he shot the film and at the film's release, Byron came into contact with various people on the American right, some of whom turned out to be racial activists (many of them Nazi-types). He kept their company off and on for a year or two and did interviews promoting the film with some of them, but it was always an awkward fit for him since he was more from the Left, historically. It soon became apparent to him that many of the people he was dealing with were quite malignant and had a mindset that he could not relate to. He decided that what he had gotten into was unfitting for him and cut ties with the kooks.
Byron had many regrets and alienated some people with his activism. Ultimately, he left politics altogether in the last years of his life. His move to Phnom Penh was a further attempt to get away from his past and start a new life.
Obviously, given my screen name (I'm ¼ Native American on my mother's side and have Jordanian ancestry on my father's), I am not a "white nationalist" or neo-nazi. I met Byron on a chat forum dedicated mainly to music and film discussion. I wasn't aware of any political philosophy he had for a good while after getting to know him, and he only mentioned it after he was comfortable with me and had begun to question his previous views, activities, and associations. He was never an unreasonable guy, and I appreciated his candor.
So it is no surprise that he didn't chat with you or anyone else out there about politics, JM, because it really wasn't in him anymore. He simply wanted to get away from it all and start over.
I'm glad to see that there are decent, honorable people on this forum, and again, I would like to thank you guys for your services.
As to the couple of yahoos who can't resist the urge to gain esteem by shitting on a young man's memory in a thread dedicated to his untimely death because you want to do some Nazi-bashing, you are half the human Byron was. The Vanguard News Network is a place that is obviously a haven for lunatics, and using selected comments from that forum to tar him forever with their rhetoric is unfair, especially after I've explained the circumstances and changes he went through. Your behavior is so loathsome as to defy belief, but some people will do anything to get a few "atta boys." It's unfortunate that Byron isn't around to defend himself against the cheap shots taken at him, and his detractors have launched an attack out of pure cowardice.
In 2004 and 2005 he created a film entitled [i]The Line in the Sand[/i] as a reaction to widespread demonstrations by Mexicans and Mexican-Americans in the US, which he, and a hell of a lot of other people, found alarming because of their size and ferocity. There were American flag burnings, racial epithets hurled at non-Mexican-Americans, and an overall atmosphere of triumphalism and animosity by the organizers and demonstrators. I witnessed one such demonstration in person, though I was at some distance. It was quite disturbing.
During the time he shot the film and at the film's release, Byron came into contact with various people on the American right, some of whom turned out to be racial activists (many of them Nazi-types). He kept their company off and on for a year or two and did interviews promoting the film with some of them, but it was always an awkward fit for him since he was more from the Left, historically. It soon became apparent to him that many of the people he was dealing with were quite malignant and had a mindset that he could not relate to. He decided that what he had gotten into was unfitting for him and cut ties with the kooks.
Byron had many regrets and alienated some people with his activism. Ultimately, he left politics altogether in the last years of his life. His move to Phnom Penh was a further attempt to get away from his past and start a new life.
Obviously, given my screen name (I'm ¼ Native American on my mother's side and have Jordanian ancestry on my father's), I am not a "white nationalist" or neo-nazi. I met Byron on a chat forum dedicated mainly to music and film discussion. I wasn't aware of any political philosophy he had for a good while after getting to know him, and he only mentioned it after he was comfortable with me and had begun to question his previous views, activities, and associations. He was never an unreasonable guy, and I appreciated his candor.
So it is no surprise that he didn't chat with you or anyone else out there about politics, JM, because it really wasn't in him anymore. He simply wanted to get away from it all and start over.
I'm glad to see that there are decent, honorable people on this forum, and again, I would like to thank you guys for your services.
As to the couple of yahoos who can't resist the urge to gain esteem by shitting on a young man's memory in a thread dedicated to his untimely death because you want to do some Nazi-bashing, you are half the human Byron was. The Vanguard News Network is a place that is obviously a haven for lunatics, and using selected comments from that forum to tar him forever with their rhetoric is unfair, especially after I've explained the circumstances and changes he went through. Your behavior is so loathsome as to defy belief, but some people will do anything to get a few "atta boys." It's unfortunate that Byron isn't around to defend himself against the cheap shots taken at him, and his detractors have launched an attack out of pure cowardice.