Why public figures who use terror as opportunity to express racism & bigotry must be called out

As horrific scenes revealed themselves in Paris on Friday night, decent people around the world―from kindergarten teachers to heads of state―were moved to express their sorrow and shock.

However, even as the violent attacks were unfolding in Paris, some chose to immediately use them as an occasion for political and social opportunism. An unsettling number of these people were U.S. politicians and journalists with public influence, who revealed their bigotry as principal character traits, eschewing empathy at a moment in which people needed it most.

It’s important to call out these voices right now, not to amplify them, but because it’s important to remember that they should never be listened to again. For these figures do not look upon people and see their humanity; rather, all they see is utility. They look upon people as objects.

Such figures should be disqualified from holding public office and shunned in the media, for they cannot possibly represent or serve a citizenry looked upon as pawns, rather than as people with dreams, hopes and struggles. 

Here is Representative Jeff Duncan (R-SC), who used the tragedy in Paris as an opportunity to denigrate Muslim refugees fleeing the very same violence which was visited upon Parisians:

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How's that Syrian refugee resettlement look now? How about that mass migration into Europe? Terrorism is alive & well in the world. #No

— Rep. Jeff Duncan (@RepJeffDuncan) November 14, 2015

The disgust was so immediate to Duncan’s declaration that he quickly wrote he would not be deleting his account. However, while his account will remain, what should be removed at the ballot box is this man’s privilege to represent others. For can anyone truly imagine Duncan having empathy for the suffering and oppressed in this country ― black citizens, sexual assault victims, those mired in poverty … ― when he sees some of the world’s most desperate people as an opportunity for political gamesmanship?

The answer seems clear.

Unfortunately, Duncan was not alone. Milwaukee’s Sheriff, David Clarke – an outspoken critic of Black Lives Matter – had this to say as people in Paris were dying:

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If GOP plays this politically smart they can end any chance that the Dems win the WH in 2016.  War is politics carried on by other means.

— David A. Clarke, Jr. (@SheriffClarke) November 14, 2015

Here is a man, another elected official specifically charged with both protecting and serving the public, looking upon an act of terrorism as political opportunism. “War is politics carried on by other means” is a worldview which dehumanizes those suffering most, a worldview which sees both those bleeding in Paris and those who fled to France fearing such a fate as political markers, not human beings. This too is a man who should be removed at the ballot box.

And then we move to Judith Miller – who while with The New York Times enabled a war which has led to nearly 200,000 dead in Iraq – unspeakably using the Paris tragedy to denigrate black students in America.

Witness her using those dying in Paris as an occasion for her racism:

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Now maybe the whining adolescents at our universities can concentrate on something other than their need for "safe" spaces…

— Judith Miller (@JMfreespeech) November 13, 2015

The lack of empathy and callous bigotry these figures have demonstrated is nothing new in their respective careers. However, at this moment of crisis, such hatred must be highlighted so that we remember, in the future, to ignore their voices when we most need leadership, direction, or analysis. Unfortunately, these three are merely representative of the sentiments expressed by countless people in the wake of what has occurred in Paris.

These are the bigots who want to cast all Muslims as terrorists, despite the fact this very same terror – which has no religion – has been visited recently upon innocent Muslims in Lebanon and Syria. These are the racists who want to silence Black Lives Matter activists seeking justice in America, attempting to delegitimize real suffering in America with the double-standard trope. These are the Islamophobes who hope to use dying Parisians as an argument for Israeli occupation.

These are the people we must collectively reject. The people we must highlight so that we never forget, again, what they represent.

Instead, we should celebrate and embrace those who reject precisely what such attacks are intended to create: disunity and inhumanity. Which is why I’ll close with words from the actor and activist Mark Ruffalo:

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Don't allow this horrific act allow you to be drawn into the loss of your humanity or tolerance. That is the intended outcome. #ParisAttacks

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) November 14, 2015

 

Indeed, that is the intended outcome – and outcome many public figures on the far-right are only too happy to further.

David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.

Follow on Twitter @David_ehg