Reactions to Arizona Shootings Spur More Hate Speech
Who or What is to Blame?
As both public figures and citizens express a mix of sympathy and anger over the tragedy, the prevalent theme is blame. From Former Gov. Sarah Palin's "crosshairs map" to President Obama's "If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," 2008 fundraiser speech, no political direction is safe from target-calling; neither is the public.
Ad hominem attacks aside, however, even FBI Director Robert S. Meuller III agrees that words do matter:
"The ubiquitous nature of the Internet means that not only threats but also hate speech and other inciteful speech is much more readily available to individuals than quite clearly it was 8 or 10 or 15 years ago," Mueller stated in a news conference, reports the New York Times.
One only has to look at the comments at CNN, where the news organization has compiled reactions to the Arizona shootings by public figures, including those of Obama; Palin; Rev. Al Sharpton; and several other congressional, state and federal government officials and figureheads.
Among the hundreds of reader comments, blame for the Arizona shootings is unsurprisingly distributed among some of the most polarizing figures in government and the media, not limited to "Rupert Murdoch, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Bill O'reilly, Michelle Bachman, and Sarah Palin" per commenter RWRistheAC, and "Michael Moore, George Soros, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Tony Rezko, Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Paul Krugman," according to RickB.
There is no lack of Tea Party references either.
Yet, while the argument seems to be whether or not words are to blame for the Arizona shootings, in arguing the point, many responses are as inciteful as those in political question. Stronger examples of vitriol can be found beyond the walls of CNN, from Twitter to political blogs.
Hate speech, violence and politics -- Then and now
That said, this is not so different from the responses seen following 9-11, which followed with several hate crimes and was a time rife with religious intolerance - from Christians to Muslims.
Even the 1990s were not so warm and fuzzy, when Rush Limbaugh dominated the air waves and Internet discussions (then called Usenet).
True, hate speech is more readily available in this post-iPhone era, and there is no taming the Internet, barring (almost) unthinkable legislation. Yet, before that, the culprit was cable television, and once upon a time (hardcopy) books were a threat, long before the days of Mark Twain. Though the division and violence in our country is disturbing, it is not so new.
It is up to the public to pull the plug, click the mouse, change the channel, identify threats and dampen flames. If public figures elevate their discourse, it cannot hurt, but the collective influence of the public should not be overlooked as we monitor our own dialog as well.
Sources
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/sarah-palins-pac-puts-gun_n_511433.html
http://themediaoasis.com/hatevictims.html
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/08/reactions-to-shooting-of-rep-giffords/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/us/10shooter.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2
Published by Donna Porter
Writer / Journalist -- A Yahoo News! Contributor Donna began her writing and internet career in 1995 in the health industry and became an early dot-com entrepreneur soon after. Masters certified in Internet... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentIt's always someone else's fault....the society of victims. The shooter was not mentally stable, it's his fault, period. Good to see you back Donna!
I don't listen to anything the media says anymore. They have their own political agenda and I'm sick of it.
An excellent article and excellent points. That Arizona shooting was such a tragedy, we can blame the one who did the shooting and the ones who made is so easy for an emotional disturb person to buy weapons and guns.
How about if we blame the guy who pulled the trigger? And check him out to see that he is a total wacko?
DONNA! Just caught your comment on one of Sylvia's articles...didn't know you were back! It really hurts me where our society is going...so much hatred and caustic bantering.
I think I'm going to go insane just trying to post a comment. I've had to log in sooooo many times. Anyway, first, glad to see you're back! I always enjoy your perspective. I agree, there's so much finger pointing and the media is using this event to promote stricter gun control. There will always be crazy people with agendas we can't possibly understand. That doesn't make the act less horrific but gun control, Sarah Palin and other factors had little to do with this. My heart goes out to the victims families and the innocents that were killed or injured that day. We should take the time after a tragedy to appreciate the people around us, not point fingers.
Interestingly wasn't it a young man who carried out this horrific crime? why does news media have to continue to spread the hate?
well said.
If only the Internet were the only source of hate speech...but that's a topic for another day. As Sylvia said, let's blame the one who pulled the trigger.
Excellent points. I wonder when we will get down to blaming the shooter.