Do Words Matter?

About a week ago we learned that an Ecuadorian man died from injuries incurred in a beating in New York City in what authorities say may have been a hate crime. CNN reported that:

"Jose Sucuzhanay and his brother, Romel, had left a party on December 7 at St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church when several men approached them in a car in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, police said. The men allegedly began shouting anti-gay and anti-Latino vulgarities at the two men."

A month earlier, another Latin man, Marcelo Lucero was attacked by a group of seven high school students in Suffolk County and stabbed to death.  The Suffolk District Attorney said that "the seven students charged in the attack admitted they regularly beat Hispanics for fun.  He said one of the accused attackers, Anthony Hartford, 17, of Medford, told police 'I don't go out doing this very often, maybe once a week.'"

If such attacks against Hispanics are taking place in the New York area, among the most open-minded and diverse regions in the world, I can only begin to imagine what might be going on elsewhere in the US.  The picture that emerges is not very pretty:

"FBI statistics show an alarming increase in the number of hate crimes across the nation.  Latinos, the numbers say, have become the racists' target of choice in the last four years.  Since 2003, hate crimes against Hispanics have increased by a shocking 40%.  According to the FBI, almost 67% of crimes motivated by ethnic or national origin are committed against Latinos."

For several years now I have closely followed the immigration debates in the US.  I have seen, with considerable dismay, the negative, mean-spirited tone that powerful figures in politics and the media sometimes display when discussing immigration issues.  In particular, I have become increasingly alarmed at their mean-spirited, anti-immigrant words, especially aimed at poor Mexican immigrants.  Do these words matter?

Part of the reason for my feelings has to do with my personal background.  I am not only a first generation immigrant myself, but I came to the US with my family as a refugee from Cuba after the Castro regime took away my parents’ store.  My father and mother had come to Cuba from Eastern Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, respectively.  I never knew my grandparents.  They stayed behind, as did others in the family.  They all perished in The Holocaust.   

My Jewish heritage has undoubtedly sensitized me to the demonization of minorities by powerful media figures and politicians, who blame them - sometimes directly, sometimes in a more subtle way - for whatever problems are afflicting society.  This is particularly dangerous when economic conditions are tough, as is the case today. 

At such times, demagogues will often arise, point to one group and make them responsible for whatever anxieties people are feeling.  There is a long, sad history of picking on some group – e.g., ethnic, religious, racial - and making them the scapegoats for whatever people are worried and angry about.  As we well know, the results are often disastrous.  That is why civilized societies are particularly sensitive to hate crimes.

While nothing like that is happening here, I must admit that the verbal attacks on illegal Mexican immigrants cause echoes in my brain of hate speeches I have heard against blacks, Jews and others, some from historical documentaries, some, unfortunately, from more recent history.  In that context, the recent killings in the New York area and the general increase in hate crimes are particularly troubling.

How should we think about those media figures who traffic mostly in anger, and adopt a red meat style, based on blaming some particular group for just about everything that is wrong with the country?  Do their words matter?  What about the media organizations that provide them with the platforms from which to deliver their hateful messages? 

Could there be a connection between the rise in hate crimes against Latinos and the constant anti-immigrant rants coming from people like Lou Dobbs?  Does it matter that this angry, hateful language is being heard from highly respected news organizations like CNN and its parent company TimeWarner?  I honestly don't know the answer to these questions.  But something does not feel right from a moral point of view. 

The reason I use Lou Dobbs Tonight as an example is not because of Lou Dobbs himself, whom I don't think of as a nice person worth having a discussion with about moral behavior or anything else.  But I do like and have a lot of respect for CNN.  Most of their people are very good, and seem very decent.  I wonder if they share my concerns.

In April of 2007, Don Imus made an insulting remark about the Rutgers University women's basketball team in his very successful national syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning.  He initially called the remarks "some idiot comment meant to be amusing," but after many others expressed outrage, Imus apologized several times over the next few days.  A week later, MSNBC, which simulcast Imus' show, made the decision to stop carrying the program, citing the strong feelings of many MSNBC employees for their decision.  The next day, Imus in the Morning was cancelled altogether.

I really believe that what Lou Dobbs dishes out every day in his program is far worse that anything Don Imus said on that fateful day or over the years, which caused MSNBC employees to recommend no longer carrying the program.  I wonder what Dobbs' CNN and TimeWarner colleagues think of him and his show.  Do they think his words matter?

When reading about hate crimes against Latinos, do the Latino employees of CNN think, for even a second, that perhaps their own station might be contributing to the kind of climate that history has shown is often associated with such crimes?  CNN and Time Warner have many Jewish and black employees.  Am I the only Jew who shudders when hearing the way Lou Dobbs talks about Mexican immigrants, given our not so distant history?

Like millions before me who came to the US in search of better opportunities, I have done quite well.  One of my proudest accomplishments is being named Hispanic Engineer of the Year in 2001.  It somehow wraps together and validates my multi-cultural identity, - who I am and where I came from, along with whatever I then became.

I think it is important that we all take a minute now and then and think about our feelings when we first got here many years ago.  We should put ourselves in the shoes of those who are struggling to make a better life for themselves and their families.  Our behavior, let alone our words, should be guided by the memories of what we went through.  The Golden Rule should be our compass - "Treat others as you want to be treated."

Comments

[Michael R. Nelson]

Irving,
Thanks for speaking out. While I will defend the right of Lou Dobbs or the worst Internet bigot to say or write stupid and vile things, I also believe in the power of the marketplace--both the commercial media marketplace and the marketplace of ideas. So how can we have more voices speaking up for tolerance? Let's hope Web 2.0 and other technologies will help by providing more outlets. Let's hope President Obama will be able to use his unique background to highlight how immigrants and diversity have made this country so successful. And let's hope that the worsening economic situation doesn't spark more ha;te and scapegoating.

[vinnie mirchandani]

Irving, you inspired me to write my own post below - with a bit more cheerful set of words about immigration.

http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2008/12/do-words-matter.html

[Angela M. Epstein]

Irving:

Words matter; I have no doubt. I do not have scientific evidence to support my statement and I guess no one is interested in finding it; especially the media. I am often in shock at the freedom people like Dobbs exercise to incubate hate. However, what shocks me the most are the corporations that support them because I do not know if their executives close their eyes to further their own personal beliefs and agendas or simply do not act with the ethic and responsibility such positions come with inherently.

For many years now, I have heard the argument of the “ratings” and “first amendment”, so often, that I have come to the conclusion that they are only used and invoked as a cover for the corporations to do nothing about people who clearly pose a threat to the people they demonize, or as protection for malicious “personalities” whose inflammatory comments might influence some from their audience enough to see the beating of immigrants as “fun” or even worse, as patriotism.

Responsible media should be a concept spread throughout all media outlets. As customers we should become more demanding but I guess the question is who will ever pay attention in this environment of self serving personalities and politicians. Maybe Walter Isaacson, for whom I have great respect, will consider this issue important enough to bring it to the Aspen Institute that he chairs after leaving CNN.

Fortunately, people like you make a difference and have the honesty to bring these things up to the public. Unfortunately, many in your position or with your background, chose to remain silent.

[Joe Metzger]

Irving,

I have been enjoying your blogs a great deal. In this case you are right that "words do matter". I always try to be very clear about what I say because so many people put so much effort into twisting ones words against them. We should always be mindful of how our words and deeds impact others and accept responsibility for them.

I must say that I am surprised at your comments regarding Lou Dobbs. I will admit that I have only been exposed to his show a few times but I found the it to be very valueable. My experience is that he presents all sides of an issue and then shares his opinion. What I heard was always reasonable and rational. I would have agreed if you had used examples of the pure propagandists such as Limbaugh, Hannity or Beck. But from what I have seen Dobbs is fair.

The issue of people who have chosen to enter our country illegally is so filled with emotion that most people seem unable to be unable to view it objectively. And of course there are the propagandists out there doing incredibly effective jobs spreading FUD and keeping things confused.

I think that if most Americans were able to back off and give the question calm consideration they would tell us the following:

1) Americans are very sympathetic to all people who are in need.

2) We want to help everyone. However the reality is that our means, while enormous, are limited. If we could somehow embrace all 5+ billion currently on the planet, bring them here and help, them we would.

3) We have legal processes for immigration in order to prevent chaos. They are certainly no more perfect than anything else. If they need to be reviewed then let's always do so. But forcing yourself in line in front of others is simply wrong.

4) Anyone who enters our country illegally has chosen to consciously break our laws ... that means they are a criminal, end of story. It does not matter how "good" they are nor how "tragic" their circumsatnces.

5) All the other tangential topics are beside the point. Don't let the hate mongers, the profiteers and the opportunists use this situation for their own personal gain ... ignore them, they don't represent the views of the rest of us anyway.

6) Rewarding wrong behavior results in more wrong behavior. If we grant general amnesty for a specific group of criminals every 20 years then we will encourage theirs acts rather than discourage them.

[Robert Pattinson Girlfriend]

What's in a name by which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet? - Shakespeare

I think the same is true to words, these are just letters, arbitrary!

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[tramadol]

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