It's OK to talk about the tough issues
Sunday, May 18, 2008 2:45 PM PDT
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E-mail this articleColumn by Thacher Schmid
“Intimidation is most effective when the fear is free-floating and threats can be left unspoken. ... To be offended is the price we all must pay for our freedom of speech and freedom of thought.” — Ian Buruma, “The Right to Offend.”
With his shirt off, muscular frame, shaved head and blond goatee, he was an arresting figure, and I smiled as we jogged past one another at Lake Sacajawea. Then my smile wilted as I noticed the huge swastika tattoo on his left pectoral.
In a sense, the tattoo sends the same public message as some of the online comments we receive at tdn.com that threaten, ridicule or criticize Hispanics. An article I wrote for April 6’s Daily News, “Latinos fear latest bust reflects poorly on their community,” inspired 182 approved comments — and 105 rejected ones.
Though we do our best to watch these comments, when threatening ones are inadvertantly approved, it damages the often-fragile fabric of community. Journalists have a responsibility to keep the dialogue within common sensibility, for the same reason you don’t joke about having a bomb in an airport or yell “fire” in a theater.
Still, it is better for the Lower Columbia community to have this discussion, even one that includes “flaming” and hurt feelings, than for locals not to talk about these issues. Hate thrives in silence, like mold in dark. Just as we have a responsibility not to allow threats based on ethnicity or color, the community has a responsibility to remember that in 2008, this unruly dialogue — these Web “flamers” — is what democracy looks like.
A few comments from the April 6 article:
“Racist headline — this article should have never been printed. This just gives the community an opportunity to show off how racist they actually are.”
Should the guy with the swastika tattoo not be allowed to jog around shirtless?
“How is it racist to say that if someone is in this country, they should be here legally, pay taxes, be able to communicate, abide by the laws, and support our country?”
It’s not. However, it is racist to grind the illegal immigration axe every time a story involves someone with a Hispanic surname. This is lowest-common-denominator thinking, and doesn’t reflect reality.
“I’ve said it for the 12 years I’ve lived in Longview. Racism is very much alive and well here.”
To be human is to be prejudiced. The fact that human beings make decisions based on visual feedback, including how others look, is Sociology 101. It can be painful for educated, “liberal” folk to admit they’re prejudiced too, but watch out for those who refuse to talk about race. “Identity politics” (including political correctness) is a misguided response to another wrong idea, that America is “colorblind.”
“They say this country was founded on immigrants but the immigrants of the past came here to be Americans and not someone who lives here but is not an American. My favorite saying is ‘LEARN THE LANGUAGE OR GET OUT!!!’”
Latino immigrants are learning English. Don’t believe me? Talk to local Latino schoolchildren — these members of the younger generations are fluent in English and Spanish, and often interpret for their monolingual parents.
“I am so sick of press 1 for English I want to scream.”
Scream, then. Go ahead, it feels good. In English, it’s “Aaarrgh!” In Spanish, it’s “Ayiiiii!”
“So Chief Perez what are you going to do about ‘YOUR PEOPLE’? Are you an American or are you Latino and just live here?”
No Latino has a responsibility to do anything about “their people.” When are white people called to “do something” about whites? Any individual comes from an ethnic group. Some choose to get involved in those politics. Some focus on their job, and Longview Police Chief Alex Perez has a busy one — going after bad guys of every color.
“Money made here should not be sent to another country on a regular basis to improve their economy.”
U.S. companies make huge profits from maquiladoras in Mexico and send the cash back here. In just a few short years, NAFTA decimated an entire class of small Mexican farmers who could not swim against the tidal wave of heavily-subsidized U.S. grains. Arguably, financial remittances are another aspect of U.S.-supported “globalization.”
“I wouldn’t move to Germany and expect the Germans to learn English so that they could accomodate me.”
Germans, like many of their European counterparts, generally do speak English — plus French, Dutch, Italian or Spanish. They’re multilingual because they have to be. Folk might not like it, but Spanish is going to be the U.S. second language; no, it already is. It takes work to learn another language, but Spanish is accessible. Anyone frustrated by an inability to speak Spanish or English could do a little volunteering. Longview Library’s literacy program, the Catholic Archdiocese, Emergency Support Shelter or Ethnic Support Council all could use some help.
Originally published May 18, 2008.
Well grow up someday wrote on May 18, 2008 7:48 PM:
Your Neighbor wrote on May 19, 2008 10:01 AM:
IWCJ wrote on May 20, 2008 8:52 AM:
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