Nazi-saluting students in Baraboo reflect the forever war that profits from white power

Photo Peter Gust

By Reggie Jackson, Milwaukee Independent

We even got the black kid to throw it up.”

– Baraboo Wisconsin School District @GoBaraboo parody account

Last May a group of about 60 Baraboo High School students from the senior class of 2019 stood in front of the Sauk County Courthouse building to pose for prom pictures. It should have been just another innocuous photo of high school students. But something made this particular picture stand out.

About 30 of the students were giving the Nazi “Sieg Heil” salute. The photographer has claimed they were not. The photo has gone viral and brought attention to the school and upset Baraboo school leaders and parents alike.

The photo had been on the website of the photo studio for some time. The photographer claims the students were waving hello to their parents. One of the students in the photograph was his son. It is not clear if his son was one of the students giving the Nazi salute.

My question is if this was the case, which it obviously was not, why is the caption above attached to the photo on social media? Are we supposed to be so naïve as to not know the Nazi salute when we see it? One student in the front row photo also showed a hand signal (the three fingered OK sign) that is popular with white supremacist groups as well…

As many around the world condemned the Baraboo students for their Nazi salutes, I began to reflect on what it says about the condition of our society. How is this event tied to the current state of affairs in America, and what does it say that on a day designated to honor the ending of a massive war we still have multiple wars that our military is taking part in?…

Here in the United States, the President and many Republican candidates in the recent midterm elections have failed to distance themselves from far-right groups. President Trump went so far as to say that he is a “Nationalist.” After being rebuked, he denied it has anything to do with “white nationalist” groups. Openly white supremacist candidates ran in elections around the country. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) stated that nine candidates who ran in the midterm elections have ties to white nationalists or Nazi groups…

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