by Elizabeth V. Hallett

The assault and degradation on fellow citizens which occurred this last week at the Trump
Rally in Madison Square Gardens has gotten a lot of push back from both saner Republicans and Democrats appalled by the sick jokes about immigrants, women, and Black people, in particular. It has been reported that the jokes were vetted ahead of time, which, if true adds to the flagrantly dehumanizing language.

Donald Trump himself poured gasoline on the fires of hate speech and division with his own performative comments, asserting arrogance and self-aggrandizement, so it is easy to believe that the jokes and speeches by other speakers were vetted and encouraged. Noneof the commentators have walked back their insults.

We are all tired of the lies and the escalating language that targets immigrants in
particular.

An illustration to this point is Donald Trump’s fictional bluster referring to the Haitian population of Springfield, Ohio, when interviewed by Dana Bash on national television. Senator JD Vance’s lies reveal a new level of manipulation and willingness to victimize innocent people. When questioned about the outrageous and untrue comment that these immigrants were “eating the cats and dogs,” JD Vance told CNN anchor Dana Bash, ‘If I have to say that to get your attention, Dana, I will.’

She was speechless for about thirty seconds. And he is a senator from Ohio, meant to serve all the residents of his state.

So, what are we, as peace-loving and open-minded citizens, to do? The MAGA party assumes and promotes a form of national permission for others to concoct lies, promote generalizations and repeat cultural slurs about an enormous part of our cultural constituency.

Those who want to see an white MAGA society – for what their acolyte Stephen Miller terms as “Americans Only” apparently believe they have cultural permission to humiliate decent people because of their race or national origin; to look down upon and fear the other; and judge those deemed as “alien” citizens. If we are to aspire to a healthy society with creative, skillful and hard-working people from diverse countries and cultures, we cannot afford the false sense of entitlement that seeks to humiliate anyone who does not fit our personal criteria.

What is the satisfaction people have when they make others feel “less than” and unsafe?

Do we really need to say, once again, this damages our social fabric and hurts us all?

At what point does our own aggressive language or frustration about American life
become a form of psychic violence?

Do we want to live in a culture where exaggeration and lies are acceptable just to get attention for whatever agenda we are promoting? How many of us come from immigrant backgrounds? How much responsibility do we have for the distortions or escalations for prejudice that we carry and project onto others?

Here in the Rogue Valley, we live and depend upon many people from diverse cultural backgrounds that bring skills and commitment to our community. Many from other countries have been here for more than a generation. Their knowledge, skills and values enhance the Rogue Valley. Peace House is aware of how locally, people of color – citizens or non-citizens – have been treated with disdain and prejudice.

Each of us has a civic responsibility to call out those who project their fears and prejudice onto others. We need to ask them what causes such rudeness and intolerance: We need to ask them to stop.

What will be important in the months to come will be how we develop our ability to move beyond our own negative attitudes and find ways to be kind and open-minded, welcoming and appreciative of each other.