Nov 30, 2018, About 200 people rallied in downtown Minneapolis to express welcome to asylum seekers from Honduras. This is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Author: Fibonacci Blue.
by Kathie MM
The ultimate weapon is psychological. It’s the “othering” of people and planet. It’s the deciding by people in power that
some lives matter and some don’t. It’s treating people who aren’t in your ingroup as exploitable commodities or
enemies or both. It’s setting against
each other the many groups lumped together in the power elite’s outgroup.
How does an authoritarian government get large masses of people to take arms against each other, to kill and rape, to revel in cruel and inhumane behavior? Terrifying them (feeding phobias) to the point where they’ll do anything to escape their fears is an effective beginning, but then it’s crucial to convert that terror into rage and carefully identify the desired target for the rage—igniting racism, ethnocentrism,colorism, heterosexism, and all the other manipulable isms.
But—it’s not enough to identify targets; power
brokers must convince members of selected outgroups (e.g., poor whites,
Protestants) that it’s morally acceptable and justifiable to destroy members of
other targeted outgroups (people of color, Jews, Muslims). Moral
disengagement provides a great set of tools—i.e., dehumanizing the designated enemy, providing pseudo-moral justifications for inhumane behavior (it
will make the world safe for democracy), using euphemistic language to describe horrendous deeds (collateral
damage), making advantageous comparisons
(much better to kill a few thousand than give them the opportunity to attack), minimizing or displacing responsibility
(just trying to clean up someone else’s mess), misrepresenting or minimizing consequences (only the aggressors
will be hurt), and–everyone’s favorite–blaming
the victim (they started it).
Please remember, you can:
* counter dehumanization by appreciating humanity
(and our mother earth);
* overcome pseudo-moral justifications by advancing
principled moral arguments;
* reject
euphemistic language by telling it like it is;
* give thumbs
down to advantageous comparisons by providing better alternatives;
* reject displacement of responsibility by taking
the moral road yourself;
* resist misrepresenting counterproductive
consequences of violence by drawing attention to its realities; and
* avoid blaming the victims, focusing instead on the
negative consequences of victimization.
President Donald J. Trump delivers his State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead) In the public domain..
During President Trump’s State of the Union address, I was enraged by his racism, his rampant lies, his narrow self-interest and his twisted and cruel vision for our country. None of that is new in Trump’s America. In fact, his speech was all too familiar.
Not only was his
speech littered with tired cliches, it tapped into an age old and blood-soaked
tactic over and over again: pitting an “innocent” victim against an imagined,
and dehumanized, other. This is the story behind some of our countries lowest
moments. It is a story that haunts our history.
Time and again,
horrific violence is justified – even created – by pitting the dehumanized
“aggressor” against an “innocent” victim. As a white woman, I can’t
forget how often my image has been invoked to excuse the murder of black and brown
people. From Birth of a Nation to Emmett Till to the Central Park Five that
Trump tried to have executed, the fabricated threat of violence to white women
has been used to excuse unspeakable violence against black and brown bodies.
“We simply have to look at whose suffering matters, and
whose suffering is erased, to see that President Trump is not interested in
helping American families, he’s interested in justifying his agenda of fear
mongering and corporate power grabs.”
Donald Trump’s
speechwriters sought to present him as a uniter, but he embraced this long and
bloody legacy with gusto in his speech. He wrapped himself in sympathetic
stories while purposely twisting the truth to justify his violence and his
lies.
We simply have to look
at whose suffering matters, and whose suffering is erased, to see that
President Trump is not interested in helping American families, he’s interested
in justifying his agenda of fear mongering and corporate power grabs.
He once again stirred
up fear about violence from immigrants threatening our families as he displayed
the fresh grief of a family who suffered a tragic loss, while ignoring those
killed by (mostly white) men in mass shootings.
He defended his
senseless border wall by invoking violence against women – even though he shuts
the door to survivors fleeing domestic violence and assault, allowed the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to expire, proudly appointed Brett Kavanaugh
to the Supreme Court and ignores rampant sexual assault allegations against
border patrol agents themselves.
He lifted up ICE
agents fighting human trafficking, while ignoring the ICE agents who rip
families apart each day, even snatching parents on their way to pick up their
children or women coming to court to get protective orders.
He lifted up the
stories of Holocaust survivors, while conveniently forgetting that he declared
Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people.” He celebrated the fight
against Nazis in World War II while obscuring the violence inspired by his
rhetoric and his administration’s embrace of religious discrimination with the
Muslim ban.
“Whether it’s grabbing our stories or grabbing us by the
pussy, Donald Trump shows his true colors. We must not allow our pain to be
weaponized against each other. We must not be seduced by fear or manipulative
stories.”
He proclaimed the
sacredness of children while his administration allowed toddlers to die from
neglect and abuse in our custody, declared that reuniting traumatized children
with their parents was too much of a burden and tried to rip health care away
from millions of American families.
Donald Trump has shown
us that he’s only interested in our stories when they can be twisted to serve
his agenda. He’s only interested in a mother’s grief when he can use it
to demonize immigrants. He’s not interested in the grief of women who need safe
and compassionate late-term abortions when their pregnancy goes horribly wrong.
He’s only interested
in sexual violence if he can use it to stoke fear and justify his wall.
He’s only interested in women getting jobs or kids getting cancer
treatment when he can use it to paint a false picture of his administration’s
“success.”
Whether it’s grabbing
our stories or grabbing us by the pussy, Donald Trump shows his true colors. We
must not allow our pain to be weaponized against each other. We must not be
seduced by fear or manipulative stories.
Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) is the most important historical figure of the 20th and 21rst centuries, the indisputable enduring icon of modern times. There are many brave individuals whose contributions have advanced the human condition, often with similar tragic personal and social results. However, the more I have studied King’s substantial national and international legacy, the more I have become convinced King is the more than the defining “icon” of our times. His legacy remains an implacable force and influence long after his passing fifty years ago. In my opinion, this is because King assumed many roles and functions whose consequences continue to endure.
The fact is
King was (is) more than a relentless courageous civil rights leader whose
efforts promoted justice, equality, freedom, and hope for all humanity. He
challenged and altered illegal time-endowed values, beliefs, policies, and
crimes.
A leader in many roles, King was:
• A minister accustomed to offering inspiring and arousing sermons sensitive to moral issues, especially the failure of idealized religious beliefs and practices to address societal failures and flaws. Reformer!
• An anti-war
activist and advocate questioning individual and national pursuits of violence
and war. Anti – War Activist !
• A
statesman, offering political, economic, and social visions for a “new” world
free of oppression and abuse, governed by laws, democratic participation,
ethical and moral codes, and personal conscience. Statesman!
• A global leader who liberated citizens around the world from their chains of domestic and foreign governmental oppression. He enlightened minds and aroused souls to use non-violence against oppression. Liberator!
• A living
embodiment of human conscience, replete with struggles and pains of abuse and
flaws. Conscience!
• A symbol of
for justice, especially the role of justice in moderating positive goals like
peace, harmony, and accord, and contesting negative repressive actions. Symbol!
• An intellectual well-versed in the historical and situational determinants of individual and national behavior, including pseudo-rationalizations for beliefs and actions. Intellectual!
• A leader
capable of mobilizing citizen support of millions across racial and class
boundaries in of his beliefs and “dreams,” offering a new vision of what is
possible! Visionary!
• A prophet, emerging at a point in history, demanding revolution in thought and actions. Prophet!
King was persecuted and assassinated, much as other revolutionary prophets have been abused and murdered across history. King’s enduring contributions require that he be placed among the prophets. Chart 1 displays some of the King’s roles, functions, and legacies:
