Leith, North Dakota, is a small town. It is the very upper curve on the dot of the 'i' in the middle of nowhere. With a population of less than thirty individuals, it nevertheless prided itself on its small and isolated nature. That all changed when white supremacist chat board demagogue Craig Cobb moved into the neighborhood, and suddenly the small town was the focus of national attention, as Cobb declared his intention to turn Leith into a haven for the white supremacist movement, to live in a place where the "purity" of the white race wouldn't be uninterrupted by society at large. Taking advantage of cheap land prices and the town's small government, Cobb ultimately intended to take over the town completely Ultimately, Cobb's dreams of creating a white supremacist promised land fell through, for the same reasons that have plagued the white pride, hate group movement since its inception. Violent rhetoric, preached without subtlety and ultimately self-destructing in a pointless show of force. In total, the grand vision of a white-supremacist utopia amounted to Cobb, a fellow white supremacist and his family, and three others who, at the time of writing, have shown little interest in picking up where Cobb left off. Cobb and his cohort were arrested and forced out of the town.
But when Cobb had made his intentions known, the media--as the media is wont to do--took off with it, declaring it a battle over the soul of a tiny slice of America. A battle of good versus evil, akin to a real life Western, with the outlaws trading in black hats for shaved heads. And this is the mistake made by "Welcome to Leith", as this view of good versus evil overshadows a much more important series of questions raised by the events portrayed in the story: At what point does society at large infringe on the rights of the individual to express their viewpoints, their lifestyles and how far can they go to oppose them?
A disclaimer: by no means do I support the White Nationalist movement, or whatever other monikers and labels they use to disguise their true, hate-filled intentions. These men have violent intent that can only be described as evil and repulsive. Their views and methods have been the force behind some of the greatest tragedies of the last century. But it is important to note that under our system of freedom of speech and freedom of self-expression, they have every right to express these viewpoints, so long as they do not engage or plot violence and harm. And while it is indeed true that this is exactly what Cobb and his followers have espoused, nevertheless, we also see some rather underhanded deeds committed by those opposed to the invading white supremacists.
Although it is hard to blame them for their actions, the citizens of Leith nevertheless did engage in campaigns of harassment against Cobb and his followers, vandalizing their property, denying them services, ultimately culminating in a town ordinance being passed that was transparently intended to be solely for the purposes of kicking Cobb out of town. While it is difficult to feel sympathetic towards these particular lifestyle practitioners, it is important to bear in mind that this same action could have been taken against anyone with a viewpoint or lifestyle that clashed with that of the town at large. It isn't difficult to imagine Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, or any other cultural or racial minority receiving similar treatment in the place of Craig Cobb and his white supremacists. Treatment that, in Leith at least, now has legal precedent.
This is not to say that the citizens of Leith would engage in such behavior. Indeed, it would appear that Leith is a town that welcomes viewpoints of cultural diversity. Yet the lengths at which the town went to remove this element that they detested, supported at large by society due to the controversial viewpoints of the ones they targeted, is an important question to address. One that, ultimately, the film seems to hint at, then promptly ignore in the face of documenting the ensuing, spectacular fall of the white supremacist movement in Leith, North Dakota.
Ultimately, "Welcome to Leith" merely documents a moment in time, hinting at greater, more thought-provoking questions, but does not seem to want to focus on them. Instead, it focuses on the same sensational viewpoint taken by the media at large. The good people of Leith won out over the forces of evil, we have our happy ending. For "Welcome to Leith", that is all that we ultimately get.
But when Cobb had made his intentions known, the media--as the media is wont to do--took off with it, declaring it a battle over the soul of a tiny slice of America. A battle of good versus evil, akin to a real life Western, with the outlaws trading in black hats for shaved heads. And this is the mistake made by "Welcome to Leith", as this view of good versus evil overshadows a much more important series of questions raised by the events portrayed in the story: At what point does society at large infringe on the rights of the individual to express their viewpoints, their lifestyles and how far can they go to oppose them?
A disclaimer: by no means do I support the White Nationalist movement, or whatever other monikers and labels they use to disguise their true, hate-filled intentions. These men have violent intent that can only be described as evil and repulsive. Their views and methods have been the force behind some of the greatest tragedies of the last century. But it is important to note that under our system of freedom of speech and freedom of self-expression, they have every right to express these viewpoints, so long as they do not engage or plot violence and harm. And while it is indeed true that this is exactly what Cobb and his followers have espoused, nevertheless, we also see some rather underhanded deeds committed by those opposed to the invading white supremacists.
Although it is hard to blame them for their actions, the citizens of Leith nevertheless did engage in campaigns of harassment against Cobb and his followers, vandalizing their property, denying them services, ultimately culminating in a town ordinance being passed that was transparently intended to be solely for the purposes of kicking Cobb out of town. While it is difficult to feel sympathetic towards these particular lifestyle practitioners, it is important to bear in mind that this same action could have been taken against anyone with a viewpoint or lifestyle that clashed with that of the town at large. It isn't difficult to imagine Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, or any other cultural or racial minority receiving similar treatment in the place of Craig Cobb and his white supremacists. Treatment that, in Leith at least, now has legal precedent.
This is not to say that the citizens of Leith would engage in such behavior. Indeed, it would appear that Leith is a town that welcomes viewpoints of cultural diversity. Yet the lengths at which the town went to remove this element that they detested, supported at large by society due to the controversial viewpoints of the ones they targeted, is an important question to address. One that, ultimately, the film seems to hint at, then promptly ignore in the face of documenting the ensuing, spectacular fall of the white supremacist movement in Leith, North Dakota.
Ultimately, "Welcome to Leith" merely documents a moment in time, hinting at greater, more thought-provoking questions, but does not seem to want to focus on them. Instead, it focuses on the same sensational viewpoint taken by the media at large. The good people of Leith won out over the forces of evil, we have our happy ending. For "Welcome to Leith", that is all that we ultimately get.