The Shadow of Hate
Location
Littlefoot B Room 124B
Start Date
21-4-2023 1:00 PM
End Date
21-4-2023 2:15 PM
Publication Date
2023
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Law | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Description
"I hate you/you hate me/we both hate so easily..."
My apologies to Art Garfunkel (“All I Know”), whose altered lyric captures the temper of today's polarized political culture.
We are all androgynous, not only because we are all born of a woman impregnated by the seed of a man but because each of us, helplessly and forever, contains the other…we are a part of each other.
James Baldwin, Here be Dragons, 1985
Our political culture has always been infected by hate. But it has generally made room for meaningful debate and advancement of constructive ideas. Today, however, the goal of public discourse is to conquer and dominate the other side with political and cultural attacks that are increasingly insulting, accusatory, insensitive, and reductive. Instead of debating ideas, leaders, media pundits and ordinary citizens have weaponized and normalized the use of reductive labels, demagoguery, technological sleight of hand, click bait, dog whistles, misinformation, and fear. In short, much of our public discourse is anything but dialogic. It is intended to diminish, debase, and dehumanize. It is hateful.
When I am honest with myself, I confess that I use language and engage in behavior that arguably demonizes and dehumanizes people like Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, Alex Jones, Donald Trump, and Nick Fuentes. My Christian upbringing tells me I should focus on the sin, separating the sin from the sinner, but I catch myself reflexively saying or implying that these people are inferior and unworthy humans. When I do so, am I contributing to the problem of normalizing hate in today’s culture and discourse? Or is hate defensible and healthy in some contexts (mine) while toxic and injurious in others (yours)?
Description Format
html
Recommended Citation
Critchlow, George, "The Shadow of Hate" (2023). International Conference on Hate Studies. 29.
https://repository.gonzaga.edu/icohs/2023/seventh/29
Full Text of Presentation
wf_no
Media Format
flash_audio
Session Title
The Complexity of Hate and its Study: What Constitutes Hate Studies and Hate?
Type
Panel
The Shadow of Hate
Littlefoot B Room 124B
"I hate you/you hate me/we both hate so easily..."
My apologies to Art Garfunkel (“All I Know”), whose altered lyric captures the temper of today's polarized political culture.
We are all androgynous, not only because we are all born of a woman impregnated by the seed of a man but because each of us, helplessly and forever, contains the other…we are a part of each other.
James Baldwin, Here be Dragons, 1985
Our political culture has always been infected by hate. But it has generally made room for meaningful debate and advancement of constructive ideas. Today, however, the goal of public discourse is to conquer and dominate the other side with political and cultural attacks that are increasingly insulting, accusatory, insensitive, and reductive. Instead of debating ideas, leaders, media pundits and ordinary citizens have weaponized and normalized the use of reductive labels, demagoguery, technological sleight of hand, click bait, dog whistles, misinformation, and fear. In short, much of our public discourse is anything but dialogic. It is intended to diminish, debase, and dehumanize. It is hateful.
When I am honest with myself, I confess that I use language and engage in behavior that arguably demonizes and dehumanizes people like Marjorie Taylor Green, Lauren Boebert, Alex Jones, Donald Trump, and Nick Fuentes. My Christian upbringing tells me I should focus on the sin, separating the sin from the sinner, but I catch myself reflexively saying or implying that these people are inferior and unworthy humans. When I do so, am I contributing to the problem of normalizing hate in today’s culture and discourse? Or is hate defensible and healthy in some contexts (mine) while toxic and injurious in others (yours)?