The rhetorical attacks against the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School illustrate the breakdown of civil discourse in US politics

In the wake of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida on February 14th, many of the school's students have pushed hard for more stringent gun control legislation, only to be met with vitriolic attacks from the right, often accusing them of being 'crisis actors'. Ben Margulies writes that the treatment of these students echoes the way whites treat non-white political opponents: often as ‘enemies’ or ‘aliens’ who are unworthy of civil discourse.