My friend and me were born in Britain but we’re both ethnically Eritrean (he’s Muslim tho) and he’s a big fan of far right content, I’m not just talking about Ben Shapiro I mean nick fuentes and full on Jews control the world stuff, he has no actual political knowledge and when I tell him stuff that the content creators he’s referring to are racist and see u as subhuman he tells me “there not referring to me there referring to west Africans”(hes East African) he’s insanely inept intelligence and he doesn’t see any career when’s he’s older, he also subscribes to some misogynistic views and I don’t know how to tell him he’s not part of their in group and I don’t want to see him go down this path, he’s not even politically knowledge he couldn’t tell me what the right and left when I asked
Edit: I’ve come to realise that my friend was already far right eg homophobia transphobia and misogyny and he was already 90% there, it doesn’t matter if he’s not the correct colour as the most I can get from him is to disavow racism but he will still share most of there sentiment, I’ve decided just to cut said person off
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Time to find a new friend
Wow, this is such a tough spot. Honestly, the best you can do RN is just be there for him. Sometimes ppl need a good friend who they can trust and rely on more than anything. Try and get him involved in different communities or expose him to new perspectives. Show him that the world ain’t just binary and that some ideologies can manipulate ya, taking advantage of your worries, fears & doubts. Keep it chill, don’t push too hard, give him space to see things for himself. Hang in there! Stay strong, mate. 💪 👊
Sounds like he holds some on his own and that’s why he’s drawn to people that would cheer to see him harmed. You’d have to unravel his hang ups around women and figure out if he thinks he’s better than others or if he’s filled with self-loathing. Or both.
Have him fly to America. He’ll learn quick where he fits in.
You could refer him to some political commentators that are more center. Or even news outlets/channels that are more center.
But don’t try and push your own ideology on him, he has to be able to figure out on his own that he doesn’t really believe in what is being preached to him. That process takes time, self-reflection and a lot of honesty with oneself, so its a very personal journey.
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I had a friend that was certainly on the right, and I have always been more centrist, maybe slightly left leaning. He would always steer our conversations into the political, and would always ASSUME I was very far left and that he was up against a wall. It got to the point where I feel like he was always talking through me, over me, instead of to me. He didn’t listen to what I had to say, he simply spouted his political talking points and assumed that the world was against him.
Eventually, the lack of communication wore on the relationship, and it was eventually one of the reasons I had to cut them off as a friend. Friends have to respect one another and listen to one another.
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In your situation, all you can do is let him know that YOU don’t believe in the material he is consuming, the politics he is regurgitating, and recommend some more center content.
But you have to understand, a lot of people don’t change. So you may have to accept this is where your friend’s head is at. We can’t force people to change their views. Good luck to you.
As you said, he is inept. These people are the main target for such views. They think they are smarter than they are, these people can rarely change.
Your friend is a social media addict and sounds like a moron. All these activists care about views and money and frankly do not give a fuck about the UK. The people on top want us to stop thinking about cost of living, fuel prices and mortgages going up and instead want us fighting against each other.
Unless you know how someone talked themselves into the ideas they have, it’s very unlikely you will talk them out of it. You two are obviously not members of the same tribe. You can’t save anyone. Maybe it’s time to move on and find kindred spirits that you have joy with.
Tell him not to be confused – he is not white??? Even if his color is not black, he is not white, and will never ever be white or classed as white??? He is seen as black no matter how he deludes himself??? Indians, Chinese, Arabs etc are not black, but are still racially discriminated against because they are not white??? Tell him to curb his deluded enthusiasm or else he’ll be put in his place soon enough??? Even right now, he is still being racially discriminated against but unfortunately, he can’t see it because he still has a child’s immature mind??? The truth is bitter, but make sure he is aware of it, whether he accepts it or not??? Show the guy evidence of the small pox on native Americans, Tuskegee Syphilis on blacks and live incineration of Jews and Gypsy’s. Does he think Hitler would see him as better than Jews or West Africans??? Show him clear evidence of how American government undermines other countries so they don’t progress. There is clear evidence on the internet for all to see, show him the evidence, if he doesn’t accept, leave him alone because one of these days, he’ll be hit hard with the reality of life??? Your guy is a naive moron???
Come to think of it, your guy is actually an African to African racist – he “believes” that the white racists are referring to West Africans and not East Africans – what a ………..???
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Talk with him. Don’t just argue, but talk. You know, bed a friend. You might justclearn from him.
It would take a long and concerted effort, therapy, and possibly a cult deprogramer. De radicalization is more art than science. Look into reformed nazis; it takes massive lifestyle changes and a lot of patience from friends and family that most people aren’t willing to provide towards a bigot.
As someone who is of west African dissent wow. I’m speechless
No no no. You let reality smack them in the face.
It’s the only thing that will jar them enough to face reality.
Remember: to them you’re the brainwashed one.
Send his harddrive to the authorities, that will just about do it. Be a hero instead of a potential accomplice to a hatecrime
He probably has low self esteem through being low intelligence and also a minority, and wants a way to feel better and smarter than others, and part of some in-group. The way to do this would be to find some group or high status person that would love bomb him and make him feel like the smart guy who has seen through the hype.
[edit to fix bad wording as pointed out]
So arguing with him he is already been primed against any reasonable arguments. Honestly I would not speak to him about politics at all and move the conversation away from it. At least he will have one friend who is not either in the cult of off the deep end or a constant challenge. If he comes out of the cult he will have one person in his life who is safe to return to.
But that means constant redirection. “Yea man I don’t want to talk about that stuff. I want to know how you are doing, not the state of the world”. “Let’s go bowling but no politics – it burns me out”. Etc.
They are absolutely referring to him.
My fellow Eritrean, have you considered this may be a trauma response? What you refer to as ‘inept intelligence’ may be a consequence/sign of failure to thrive if he has been stunted by trauma. There are also signs that he is demotivated and feels helpless – ‘doesn’t see any career when he’s older’ which may also be a further sign of trauma. Just what came to mind after reading your post. If this is the case, he will need therapeutic support.
If your friend’s views feel emotionally harmful to you, it is ok to step away. However, if you feel what I have written resonates with you and you feel resourced to support him then consider keeping him as a friend.
The people he is supporting probably doesn’t even know there is a difference between east and west Africa.
how old are you?
As a Muslim – end your friendship with him and move on, there’s no coming back and he won’t change.
Tell his dad.
It will backfire at first, but I think that’s the only way for him to realize that he is making shit up.
I can guarantee you that they are very much talking about him as well. But there are always a few minorities that are willing to throw their own under the bus for despicable people
That’s a tough situation tbh, it’s hard to reason people out of unreasonable positions. You could try communicating honestly about how you find his positions on Jews hurtful for your friendship.
Keep the conversation focused on how it affects your friendship and less combative in general. I find that people are more receptive to change when they are willing to see the actual consequences for their behaviors.
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Encourage him to go to a far right rally. Be ready in your car to get away when he is chased out of the venue by bald boneheads.
Your friend is an idiot who doesn’t realise the very people he’s supporting hate him and would happily sacrifice him at the drop of a hat. Get new friends.
Loooool the irony.
Dude, ditch this guy. There’s no teaching those who don’t want to learn, which is often the case for far right extremists.
It will be near impossible to convince him, the thing is, if he went to a rally or whatever and carried a flag, the thing is, they’d accept him as “one of the good ones” and only embolden him more.
Out of my friend group from school, I remember one we left behind because he went full on communist, glorifying Stalin, Mao and basically larping as communist dictators etc but somehow combining it with anime (you know the type!) and another later ended up going the other way and basically spent his time going to EDL rallies and losing all his money gambling and snorting the balance. They both eventually kinda grew out of it, but never hung out with them again.
Probably a result of too much time on the internet and found themselves feeling accepted by a bunch of radicals.
you’re just square
Buddy it doesn’t matter where in Africa you are from those people LITERALLY CANNOT TELL THE DIFFERENCE NOR WOULD THEY CARE.
You need to chill and stop worrying about him bud.
Tell him to go to their rallies and stand toward the front ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Get deeper on why he’s interested in that, don’t admonish him.
Reddit bozos will tell you to cut off everyone that does something that makes you feel bad or that is seen as incorrect, inbreed intolerance in this website, if you are interested in realfriendship you work things out.
I swear people wouldn’t be half as radicalized nowadays if they had someone on their side that not only listened to them but try to understand the why. Sadly this is harder everyday, echochambers making us intolerant pricks.
I love your heart. But you’re young and you gotta find your people. It sounds like you wouldn’t be mates if you weren’t thrown together at college.
It’s bad but nobody sees the far left woke as an equal problem. Both are extremists, it’s worrying I’m not sure you can stop them.
I spent a bit of time in Eritrea back in the Day
He was raised with antisemitism from earliest childhood.
Ironic, because if he simply looked at Muslim’s obligation to extend the Ummah, he might recognize the truth.
Meanwhile, he should understand that the right wing would like nothing better than to send him back to Eritrea.
That’s not extreme right, now everything they don’t like is fascist or extreme right, he is the one who should look for a new friend, and another thing, he is an adult, don’t get involved in his life or his decisions, you are no one to tell him how he should live his life or what to think.