Stop Normalizing Hate
Starting in the Nation’s Capitol
These things need to be repeated and must never be normalized.
Fortunately, I have never had the misfortune to meet Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Color., Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., or Jon “Chuckie” Gruden but I know enough to label Boebert, Gosar and Greene as Islamaphobes and white supremacists, at best, and Gruden as a racist homophobe. And this is not about being politically correct but rather the latest comments from Boebert, Gosar, Greene and Gruden add to normalizing bigotry and worse, encouraging and inflaming other bigots in the latest, violence-filled atmosphere.
Then think back to the self-serving, hypocritical firestorm from Republicans, led by trump, that erupted after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick drew attention to the Black Lives Matter movement when took a knee while the National Anthem played before a game. Kaepernick did not label Moslems terrorists, he did not tweet about killing a member of Congress and he did not make racist, sexual rants. Kaepernick took a knee. He took a knee and he was right.
Boebert, Gosar, Greene and Gruden are reprehensible bigots but they are not stupid. You cannot tell me that Boebert didn’t know the effect of what she was saying when she inferred that Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was a terrorist. Boebert had bumped into Omar in a Capitol elevator and said she was relieved to see that Omar was not carrying a backpack, implying that the Muslim might be a suicide bomber. And despite his protestations, Gosar knew exactly what he was doing and his motives were obviously to inflame when he tweeted an altered anime video showing him killing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Biden. Reprehensible as she is, Greene knew she was throwing gasoline on the fire of racism when she said that Kyle Rittenhouse should be given the National Medal of Honor for having killed two and wounded one during demonstrations in Kinosha, Wis.
And only a fool would believe that former Raiders head coach Jon “Chuckie” Gruden isn’t homophobic, racist and sexist, even though emails have been made public showing Gruden to be homophobic, racist and sexist. There was no mistaking why ex-president bone spurs had a photo of himself congratulating a smiling Kyle Rittenhouse, the white supremacists’ latest main squeeze. And then there was the love that Greene sent to Rittenhouse when she moved to award him the Congressional Medal of Honor for protecting the “community of Kenosha, Wisconsin, during a Black Lives Matter (BLM) riot.”
Boebert apologized after a minor wildfire erupted, largely from Democrats over the ethnic slur. She was apologizing for getting caught, not for making the comments. Same for Gruden, who has sued the NFL claiming he was a victim of a concerted campaign to oust him from football. Gruden doesn’t say his comments were gross and unacceptable but rather that he never meant for them to be made public. Gosar said his tweet was meant to be funny, that’s all. Greene of course didn’t budget and trump, as is his pattern, basks in his racism.
This is not about political correctness but rather that racism, sexism and homophobia are alive and very well throughout the country.
Speaking to an audience in her Colorado district, Boebert described her encounter with Omar in an elevator at the Capitol as “not my first ‘Jihad Squad’ moment.” Boebert told a laughing crowd that she was getting into an elevator at the Capitol when she saw a Capitol police officer running to the elevator.
“I see fret all over his face, and he’s reaching, and the door’s shutting, like I can’t open it, like what’s happening. I look to my left, and there she is. Ilhan Omar. And I said, ‘Well, she doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine,’ ” Boebert said.
Omar saw nothing funny in Boebert’s comments.
“Anti-Muslim bigotry isn’t funny & shouldn’t be normalized,” Omar said on Twitter. “Congress can’t be a place where hateful and dangerous Muslims tropes get no condemnation.”
Omar also called on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to take “appropriate action” against Boebert. To date, there’s been no comment from McCarthy. Likewise, there were demands that McCarthy act after Gosar’s Tweet. McCarthy declined to publicly condemn.
“Saying I am a suicide bomber is no laughing matter,” Omar tweeted. “@GOPLeader and @SpeakerPelosi need to take appropriate action, normalizing this bigotry not only endangers my life but the lives of all Muslims. Anti-Muslim bigotry has no place in Congress.”
Boebert, Gosar and Greene are carrying on a timeless tradition of bigotry and while they used indisputable language, politicians have long used coded language and dog whistles to get across racist and sexist views. Coded language allows politicians, media and members of the public to tap into bigoted ideas while denying that’s what they’re doing.
For example, politicians used the word “thug” to describe predominantly black protesters and rioters in Baltimore, Md.,with the underlying message that all black people are violent criminals.
The term “radical Islam” is supposed to refer to those who are so extreme in their view of Islam that they are willing to carry out deadly terrorist attacks. But the term has taken a new shape to stoke fears of Islam and Muslim people as a whole.
Another dog whistle phrase is “illegal immigrant,” which is supposed to describe someone who migrates to the U.S. without legal authority. But the words are often used to describe Latinos, in particular Mexicans, even though many unauthorized immigrants come from places outside Latin America.
Religious freedom is also how those opposed to LGBTQ rights define their struggle to outlaw gay marriage and further discriminate against LGBTQ people.
The Anti Defamation League (ADL) described the dangers of bigotry as part of the so-called “Pyramid of Hate” which describes increasing levels of bias, beginning with words.
“Unchecked bias can become ‘normalized’ and contribute to a pattern of accepting discrimination, violence and injustice in society,” said the ADL report. “While every biased attitude or act does not lead to genocide, genocide takes place within a system of oppression in which the attitudes and actions described at the lower levels of the pyramid are accepted. When we challenge those biased attitudes and behaviors in ourselves, others and institutions, we can interrupt the escalation of bias and make it more difficult for discrimination and hate to flourish.”