Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:07:53 -0700 Subject: Re: TIM WISE ARTICLE From: Matthew <matthew-AT-heydaybooks.com> Don't know, I got it over email, I always get his stuff over email and it's never cited. It may not have been published. M > Where was this published? > > Mimi > > At 09:15 AM 9/19/01 -0700, you wrote: > >>> Enemies, Both Foreign and Domestic: The Limits of Revenge and Rhetoric >>> By Tim Wise >>> >>> September 15, 2001 >>> >>> >>> Well, it looks as if the good people of the rural U.S. should be breathing >>> a sigh of relief right about now. After all, with the President and most >>> Americans itching to bomb any place where terrorists might be hiding, one >>> can only imagine the kind of wrath that would have been brought down upon >>> the heads of folks in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming or Mississippi had last >>> week's hijackersbeen white boys with crew-cuts, like Tim McVeigh. >>> >>> All this talk I keep hearing of "Kill the Arabs," "carpet bomb em back >>> into the stone age," or "get the ragheads" would have to have been replaced >>> with "Kill the Crackers," "bomb em back to the Dust Bowl," and "get the >>> trailer trash." >>> >>> But the fact is, we all know that such a scenario would never have >>> transpired, and not because white boys arent capable of inflicting mass >>> death. They certainly are. McVeigh proved that, if for some folks Hitler, >>> Stalin, Andrew Jackson, Lyndon Johnson and Dick Nixon werent sufficient to >>> make the case. But rather, because the folks who are so quick to >>> collectivize the responsibility and the payback when the perps are >>> dark-skinned or "foreign," are just as quick not to do so when white boys >>> are the ones committing mass murder or engaging in terroristic activities. >>> In the wake of Oklahoma City, none of the people who are now calling for >>> war against Afghanistan even suggested targeting white supremacist groups >>> and militias for destruction, let alone bombing the cornfields of "middle >>> America" in the hopes of taking out a few anti-government types. >>> >>> Bottom line: enemies who look different, speak a different language, or >>> practice a different religion are lots easier to view as the "other." As >>> somehow cutoff from the common humanity of which we consider ourselves a >>> part. And so we speak now of killing Arabs indiscriminately, of not >>> differentiating between the guilty and the innocent (ironically, the >>> precise mentality of whomever carried out last weeks attacks), and winning >>> a war, which we claim has been officially engaged. But we would have said >>> none of these things had the perpetrators been internal extremists. We said >>> none of these things about those who fit the descriptions of Tim McVeigh, >>> or Terry Nichols. We would never have heard columnists calling for >>> profiling of white men, the way that reactionary crank and wanna-be pin-up >>> girl of the right, Ann Coulter, called for the same against Arabs and >>> Muslims this week. >>> >>> Actually, that wasnt all she said: she also opined that it should be the >>> role of the United States to invade "their" countries, kill "their" >>> leaders, and "convert them to Christianity." If these were the words of an >>> Imam, calling for the forced conversion of Southern Baptists to Islam, we >>> would call them the fanatical ramblings of a jihad-happy madman. But when >>> the fashion-conscious and attractive (though clearly Snickers-deprived) >>> Coulter says it, she finds mass support for her nuttiness, gets her call >>> for a new round of Crusades published on the website of the National >>> Review, and will remain a regular commentator for such paragons of >>> journalistic virtue as Fox News. >>> >>> So too Jerry Falwell, who for some unknown reason people still take >>> seriously despite his penchant for committing random acts of serial >>> stupidity. His latest? Laying the blame for the attacks on New York and DC >>> at the feet of the ACLU (for "throwing God out of the schools"), "the >>> abortionists" ("because God will not be mocked"), as well as "pagans," >>> "feminists," and "the gays and lesbians." After offering this truly >>> maniacal glob of pedantic crap, Falwells partner in fundamentalist lunacy, >>> Pat Robertson, chimed in to blame "pornography on the internet," abortion, >>> and the removal of the ten commandments from courthouses. God, according to >>> these twin towers of intellectual mendacity and biblically bankrupt >>> spirituality, is "lifting his protection from us," as our comeuppance for >>> secular humanism. >>> >>> It makes me think back to what Barry Goldwater said about Falwell in 1981, >>> when the rotund little preacher asked all "good Americans" to rise up in >>> opposition to the nomination of Sandra Day OConnor to the Supreme Court >>> (since, after all, the Court was no place for a lady). "All good >>> Americans, Goldwater intoned, should rise up and give Jerry Falwell a >>> kick in the ass." Precisely, and now two decades overdue. >>> >>> Funny how all the discussion of religious fanaticism among certain >>> followers of Islam has led us to overlook the fanaticism of certain >>> Christians who are now calling for blood. One has to imagine that if Jesus >>> was here today they would call him a "pussy" for all that "turn the other >>> cheek" stuff. And while I cant answer the question thatmanyfollowers of >>> Christ ask when they wear their "What Would Jesus Do?" armbands, I feel >>> pretty confident that I know what he wouldnt do. He wouldnt be saying >>> things like: "lets shove a couple dozen cruise missiles up their ass," or >>> going out and spraypainting "Fuck Islam" on mosques, or screaming about the >>> "sand niggers" while guzzling beer at some sports bar. And for that matter, >>> he wouldnt be standing around chanting "U.S.A, U.S.A." at a memorial >>> service, in an attempt to turn it into a jingoistic pep rally. >>> >>> The events of the past week have brought out the best in people and the >>> worst: on the one hand, the rescue workers, diligently seeking for any >>> signs of life amidst perhaps a million tons of rubble; yet, on the other, >>> the cacophony of voices calling for revenge. Oh sure, they insist it isnt >>> about that, but rather, "justice." They insist they want more than merely >>> the continued spilling of blood, and that striking back has more purpose >>> than merely proving how tough we are. But ask them what that purpose is, >>> and how they think massive military retaliation can actually make us more >>> safe, to say nothing of the safety of others the world over, and their >>> faces go blank, or become contorted with anger, as they shout: "well, we >>> have to do something. We cant just sit here and let them get away with >>> it!" >>> >>> But "doing something" is not a valid pretext for unleashing war. And >>> justice requires that we carefully consider the difference between >>> responsible parties and innocent ones. Just as one would not think it >>> "just" to level an entire neighborhood in search of one serial killer who >>> might be living in the area, so too is it unjust to speak of turning much >>> of the Arab world into a parking lot, in search of the few persons actually >>> behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. >>> >>> Not only would such a disproportionate response be morally suspect, it >>> would be irresponsible from a security perspective as well. It would leave >>> us all less safe, as millions more in the Arab world came to see the U.S. >>> as a bully, unconcerned about innocent lives, Muslim holy sites, or world >>> peace. And ten years hence, or maybe less, they would understandably >>> retaliate in kind. What is most ironic about all of this, is that such a >>> scenario--the West and Islam locked in mortal combat--is exactly what the >>> Osama bin Ladens of the world have always wanted. It is a trap. A trap >>> rejected by the vast majority of Arabs, and of Muslims wherever they may >>> be, but one in which they too will be caught up if we take the bait. >>> >>> Its really quite simple: we couldnt kill all of "them" even if doing so >>> was ethically acceptable, which of course it isnt. And those who dont >>> die, who would look around and see their nations leveled, their houses >>> gone, their family members incinerated, would at that point most certainly >>> feel that they had nothing to lose by getting even. And there is no more >>> dangerous member of any society than the one who thinks he has nothing to >>> lose. Desperation doesnt make for very sound judgment, whether the >>> desperation of the immiserated in the so-called third world, or that of the >>> most powerful, and yet often least original people on the planet. >>> >>> And so what does that leave us with? The fact is, I dont know. And neither >>> do you. And why we cant just say that, admit our frailties and >>> uncertainties and ignorance, is beyond me. That we demand quick and easy >>> answers is indicative of our cultural attachment to instant gratification: >>> got a headache, take an aspirin; overweight, get liposuction; upset about >>> something, take Prozac. Dont think, dont analyze, just do it. It is Nike >>> slogan as national mantra. And it is the prelude to international >>> slaughter. >>> >>> No wonder so much of the world looks at America with contempt and at >>> Americans as spoiled children. First, we train terrorists the world over, >>> including bin Laden, because we had to "get the commies" at all costs, even >>> if it meant supporting dictators, fundamentalists, and murderers. Then we >>> support corrupt and brutal regimes that trample the rights of their >>> citizens. Then we fund and support an illegal occupation of Palestinian >>> land, and contribute to the deaths of a million or more in Iraq from >>> bombing and sanctions. Then, we exhibit our arrogance by withdrawing from >>> international treaties and forums when the going gets tough or issues get >>> raised that we dont want to discuss. >>> >>> This is not to say that any of these things, no matter how irresponsible or >>> even criminal warrant an act the likes of what we saw September 11th. But >>> there is something to be said for understanding why no one likes you. If >>> all the other kids in the sandbox think youre a thug and a bully, then >>> after a while youd best stop trying to beat them all into submission, or >>> thinking that they are the problem, and instead, begin to turn some of that >>> analysis inward. Thats what you would do, anyway, if you wanted to >>> actually get to the bottom of the conflict on the playground. If, on the >>> other hand, your main concern were showing what a badass you were, then >>> maybe this wouldnt matter much to you at all. And in that case, you would >>> set out to show those other kids who was boss, who was king of the hill. >>> You would continue to provoke them, to attack them, and then act shocked >>> when they hit back. >>> >>> That kind of behavior is unbecoming enough when children engage in it. When >>> adults with explosives do it, the immature becomes deadly. This is no game. >>> There is no "winner" despite the blustery rhetoric of our >>> frat-boy-in-chief. And unless we begin to fundamentally alter the way we as >>> a nation operate around the world, we are in for many years of violence, >>> and counterviolence, and empty platitudes, and flag waving, and body bags. >>> And if that happens, it wont merely be the fault of those who attack us >>> from outside, but also the fault of those who were the enemies of justice, >>> equality, and peace on the inside of the American empire. There will be >>> more than enough blame to go around. >>> >> >> >> _________________________________________________________________ >> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp >> >> >> >> >> --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- > > > > --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu --- ********************************* Matthew Shenoda Marketing & Publicity Director ********************************* Heyday Books P.O. Box 9145 Berkeley, CA 94709 ********************************* Phone: 510-549-3564 Fax: 510-549-1889 Email: matthew-AT-heydaybooks.com www.heydaybooks.com --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---
Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005