Is the US government using ‘Nazi-inspired’ slogans?
Americans are raising the alarm over increasingly concerning posts from government agencies, reminiscent of Nazi Germany slogans.
The Department of Labour wrote on social media this weekend: ‘One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American,’ along with a statue of President George Washington.
At first glance, the phrase appears harmless – but it’s eerily similar to Nazi propaganda, which said ‘Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer’.
Translation: One people, One Nation, One Leader.’ The phrase was plastered on posters with Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.
There’s also been evidence that the Department of Homeland Security has been posting white nationalist propaganda on its social media accounts.
An investigation from the Southern Poverty Law Centre discovered white nationalist slogans in recruitment advertisements for ICE.
One chilling advertisement had the words ‘We’ll have our home again’ placed on a photo of a cowboy. The phrase comes directly from a white nationalist song sung by a neo-Nazi group in North America.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not taken down the post or addressed it.
A DHS spokesperson told Metro: ‘Calling everything you dislike “Nazi propaganda” is tiresome.
‘DHS will continue to use all tools to communicate with the American people and keep them informed on our historic effort to Make America Safe Again.’
Historian and propaganda academic Ian Garner told Metro the latest evidence of alleged neo-Nazi leanings on official government accounts is evidence of the White House trying to be ‘edgy’.
‘We see this time and again with the way the White House communicates. It tends to choose the most controversial images and messaging,’ he explained.
‘Of course, this stems from Trump himself, who posts content designed to be inflammatory and as outrageous as possible. Firstly, it winds up the opposition; as soon as Trump or the White House posts something like this, we see the opposition piling on with thousands of replies about how angry or shocked they are.’
The anger from Americans then fires up Trump’s own supporters, Garner argues, who enjoy ‘owning the libs’.
‘They take delight in the destruction, the chaos, and the provocation, regardless of where the ideas actually originate—whether they come from a childish internet message board like 4chan or from 1930s Nazi Germany.’
But the evidence of neo-Nazi and Nazi Germany-aligned posts from American governmental departments shows the US is going down a ‘dark path’, he added.
‘By using fascist or Nazi-coded language, you normalise it. You make it acceptable. We know there are neo-fascist groups, voters, and violent actors in the United States; when they see this language, they only become more enthusiastic.
‘Consequently, even more extreme versions of these messages become normalised and acceptable,’ Garner said.
‘Once something becomes acceptable in political discourse, it becomes thinkable. Once it is thinkable, it becomes possible—and ultimately, it becomes much more likely to actually happen.’
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