Taking the fight to Falwell

Obviously, the aftermath of Katrina is the primary topic in the blogs and the focus of my own blog. But Official Reality Check has linked to another important issue that, in a tangible way, ties into the disaster: the demonization of a select group of Americans that many fear to begin with.

Here are the opening paragraphs from the story they link to:

"Enough is enough." That's what I felt one evening in 1999 when I saw Jerry Falwell on the television show "Crossfire." The subject was whether gay people should be allowed into the Boy Scouts. Falwell was, of course, against the idea. When the host asked him why, he replied, "Because no one knows what would happen when the lights went down."

As soon as I heard him say it, I was infuriated. Sure, this kind of thing was nothing new, but I had finally reached my wits' end. The idea that gay men would want to molest young boys were we allowed into the Boy Scouts was plainly repugnant. "Why doesn't anyone respond to this man?" I thundered.

There you have it. Earlier today I wrote about the right-wing response to the lawlessness in New Orleans, which has been a subtle campaign to portray those stranded in New Orleans as "gangsta rappers" who are thrilled to have the opportunity to rape and murder their fellow Americans.

It's common and it's a tried-and-true tactic throughout human history: dehumanize your enemy suggesting that they're all cut from the same depraved and villainous cloth. It can be comforting to the ignorant and effective as a tool to promote jingoistic hatred, but it never reflects reality. Just take a look at John Dower's 'War Without Mercy' to see another recent comparison-- America's war with Imperial Japan in World War II. Both sides relied on stereotypes to 'sell' their actions, and although there was clearly a right and wrong side in that struggle, it's obvious that the best way to sell a war is to rely on caricatures.