From "nitwit" to "bigot"
Some guy writes "FUCK" on a wall, nobody pays attention. Some other guy draws a swastika and writes some racist slogans on a wall, the story hits the wires. Newspapers use weird phrases like "bias incident". Some reporters provide details, others (see the first link) describe the vandalism as "offensive writing."
This happened a few times while I attended Northwestern, often enough to be unsettling, but not frequent enough, say, to suggest a significant threat to blacks, Jews, hispanics or others on campus. Still, each time it prompted a shrill and sanctimonious reaction. Most of these incidents end up dominating the front page of The Daily Northwestern, as did some of the on/near-campus robberies I wrote about as a cops reporter. Rallies are held and buttons are distributed. It seems absurd to go to these lengths to show a few scattered vandals how virtuous and unafraid we are.
Of course, a society like ours needs to give special care to its ideas about race, yet the language of these ideas seems to provide an excessive kind of impunity--"bigot," "racist," "bias," "hate," etc.--a little like what James Baldwin called a "thrill of virtue." I think that on some basic level, we are seeking that thrill when we fume over petty, isolated "hate crimes" like this. I think it is a sign of our own insecurity that the specter of racism, even in such a pathetic form, prompts such a frenzied reaction.
I think we need to confront our virtuous selves. We need to look at the connection between our good intentions and our dumb, violent instincts. We need to realize that in the pursuit of a more moral society, we can become self-righteous assholes. After a "hate crime," one dumb kid becomes a villain, a bigot, a symbol of the racism we fear. At a public execution, one petty criminal becomes a symbol of evil and danger. In both cases, people feel free to get carried away with their impunity, probably because there is no way to defend the crime in the crowd's terms. It doesn't happen to punish the criminal--it happens so that the innocents can celebrate their innocence. It only nurtures the same instincts that make it possible for racism and fanaticism to spread among even the most "educated," "civilized" people. Why can't the innocents show a little composure?
This happened a few times while I attended Northwestern, often enough to be unsettling, but not frequent enough, say, to suggest a significant threat to blacks, Jews, hispanics or others on campus. Still, each time it prompted a shrill and sanctimonious reaction. Most of these incidents end up dominating the front page of The Daily Northwestern, as did some of the on/near-campus robberies I wrote about as a cops reporter. Rallies are held and buttons are distributed. It seems absurd to go to these lengths to show a few scattered vandals how virtuous and unafraid we are.
Of course, a society like ours needs to give special care to its ideas about race, yet the language of these ideas seems to provide an excessive kind of impunity--"bigot," "racist," "bias," "hate," etc.--a little like what James Baldwin called a "thrill of virtue." I think that on some basic level, we are seeking that thrill when we fume over petty, isolated "hate crimes" like this. I think it is a sign of our own insecurity that the specter of racism, even in such a pathetic form, prompts such a frenzied reaction.
I think we need to confront our virtuous selves. We need to look at the connection between our good intentions and our dumb, violent instincts. We need to realize that in the pursuit of a more moral society, we can become self-righteous assholes. After a "hate crime," one dumb kid becomes a villain, a bigot, a symbol of the racism we fear. At a public execution, one petty criminal becomes a symbol of evil and danger. In both cases, people feel free to get carried away with their impunity, probably because there is no way to defend the crime in the crowd's terms. It doesn't happen to punish the criminal--it happens so that the innocents can celebrate their innocence. It only nurtures the same instincts that make it possible for racism and fanaticism to spread among even the most "educated," "civilized" people. Why can't the innocents show a little composure?
posted by Scott at 12:30 PM
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