Why I dwell on random acts of meanness in the face of authoritarian brutality

A response to readers who think I have lost the plot

In response to posts of mine about the downsides of taunting and demeaning random ICE agents, some have questioned why on earth I would give any mindshare to such petty matters at a time like this. Here’s my thinking about this conundrum:

Those of us who are outraged by ICE’s brutality and repression have a choice: We can voice our anger and vehement disapproval of ICE’s actions; we can offer support and sympathy for the people who are being directly impacted; and/or we can make sweeping generalizations, accusations, and assumptions about all 22,000 ICE officers, taunt them when they slip and fall, and shout insults at them. In other words, we can defend the humanity of ICE’s victims or tear down the humanity of ICE agents.

I absolutely agree that what ICE is doing to the people of Minneapolis is orders of magnitude more harmful than anything social media warriors are posting or protestors are chanting. At the same time, words and attitudes have ripple effects.

No one appreciates being dehumanized, including the “bad guys.” They don’t think of themselves as bad guys; they see themselves carrying out a mission they were trained to believe is valid. You might be 100% certain that they are misguided, but that doesn’t change how they see themselves. When a stranger comes along who knows exactly one thing about them (who they work for) and treats them like low life who don’t deserve the basic respect afforded to human beings…they feel stung, resentful, angry. These powerful emotions are grist for violent retaliation. They contribute to an internal culture of defensiveness against those smug, self-righteous, liberal hypocrites with their selective empathy.

What starts as words isn’t confined to the verbal realm. Words triggers feelings, and feelings give rise to actions. Protestors who have been exposed to rhetoric that dehumanizes ICE agents will be more likely to taunt or throw water balloons or rocks at agents on the streets. If each and every ICE agent is truly evil and beyond redemption, then attacking them is not just warranted, it’s obligatory.

Dehumanizing rhetoric launches a downward spiral of mutual loathing and, ultimately, violence. It is part of the cycle of escalation that gets harder and harder to put in reverse the longer it goes on.

Martin Luther King, Jr. unfailingly affirmed the humanity of his opponents. According to the King Center, “Dr. King believed that the age-old tradition of hating one’s opponents was not only immoral, but bad strategy which perpetuated the cycle of revenge and retaliation.”

I lifted a couple of King’s principles from the King Center’s website:

I’m with King.

I can’t control what people say or how they say it — on this I agree with my critics on the limits of my project. But I’m not going to amplify content that personally demeans or debases anyone and I mean anyone, even ICE agents, even Trump. I can be relentless in my criticism of their actions and ideas, yet avoid making demeaning broadsides or relishing their suffering. As I’ve heard Cornel West say many a time, “Go hard on structures, soft on people.”

Hard on structures:

Soft on people:

There is a fleeting feeling of gratification that comes with hitting that “like” icon, joining my tribe in a two minutes of hate ritual. But I know there are consequences that make the dopamine hit not worth it. As hatred spreads, social bonds weaken, and a nihilistic undertow pulls us all under. My wish is that people of all political stripes reflect on whether they want to be putting more poison into the world.

When in doubt, I ask myself, “What would King do?” The answer is usually pretty obvious.

One day, Trump will be gone. What will be left of us? What kind of society do we want? How do we want to be?