A social justice publication for teenagers and young people is the latest media outlet to fall for a racist hoax article calling for white men to have their right to vote cut off.
Affinity Magazine follows in the footsteps of the gullible Huffington Post, which fell for a similar hoax when it published an article by a contributor—a South African man—who masqueraded as a feminist activist calling for white men to be stripped of their voting rights. The article’s author wrote the piece to expose the racist politics of Huffington Post South Africa’s editorial department, which approved the piece and even defended it shortly before issuing a retraction.
In the post published this week, titled “Do White Men Really Deserve To Vote?” an author by the name of Malia Rolt references the Huffington Post hoax article, treating it as a legitimate argument. The author says that the HuffPo writer was “silenced,” adding that she “saw it and thought that the benefits of reversing white men’s suffrage was definitely worth discussing.”
“After all, women and people of colour went through times of not being allowed to vote, and the fact that white men never had to experience that is an injustice,” the author argues. “Despite the fact that we are given the illusion of democracy today […], do oppressors of minorities and women deserve to choose to continue our oppression, or should we help them by withdrawing the right to vote from them for a while until we can truly get on the same page and connect?”
Appearing sincere, the author states that “one can’t be sure if withdrawing the white man’s vote could be considered a ‘wrong,’” and that “banning white men from voting temporarily will help them understand systemic injustice and help them become better, more empathetic allies to the social justice cause.”
Without any apparent editorial oversight, Affinity Magazine published the piece, which would effectively reverse any progress toward human rights and equality.
A quick search of the author’s profile photo reveals it is of Normani Kordei, who belongs to Fifth Harmony, an all-girl vocalist ensemble. Furthermore, the author’s name Malia Rolt is an anagram for “I am a troll.”
The Daily Caller has been in contact with associates of the author, who pointed us to an additional article on Affinity Magazine printed under the name “Perceives Linn,” an anagram for Inverse Pencil. The hoaxster’s article denounced J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings as an “imperialist, sexist, hate bible.”
It remains online.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.