Intolerant meme remixed
White Americans, what?
Nothing better to do?
Why don’t you kick yourself out?
You’re an immigrant too.
Jack White, “Icky Thump”, 2007.
I’m not sure where these Gene Wilder-era Willy Wonka memes started but there are plenty of them out there. They must have started because this image was somehow in the public domain, and it may or may not have something to do with Willy Wonka author, Roald Dahl, having been quite politically right-wing. My former colleague (a teacher and a union representative) posted that image on Facebook after the Parliament Hill shootings about a year ago. I have no idea if he created it or reposted it. I made a comment “this is aimed at the Europeans who came to America, right?”. Here, I have recreated that comment, visually, through a picture found on the Toronto Star website. I don’t think he really understood my comment, because he replied “Every immigrant who doesn’t respect this country. More relevant today with a group that refuses to respect our customs and prefer Sharia law over our constitution and political code.” The lower image clearly demonstrates a group who changed schools and traditions and didn’t respect the customs of those who were in this country first. Today I found another Facebook meme with a similar message to the one I’ve posted here.
Randy, this is a powerful image, and is so fitting considering what is going on in our world right now. I do see these memes a lot, but had not made the connection that the original Wonka author was right wing.
Yes. Thanks for sharing and posting this. To add to the Roald Dahl story, in Salman Rushdie’s book, Joseph Cotton, he talks about what a very unpleasant misogynist Dahl actually was.