A Condemnation of Fear

This morning Mohammed Merah committed suicide by police in France after a standoff that lasted more than 30 hours. According to recently published reports Mr. Merah had an affiliation with Al Quaeda. Once again there are stories about trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan. All that will be sorted out including the specific circumstances of his death, but one thing is certain. Mr. Merah had a deep hatred of Jews.  The hatred led to the murder of a rabbi, Jonathon Sandler, and three children. Because of his hatred Arye Sandler, 6, and Gabriel Sandler, 3, and Miriam Monsonego, 8, are no longer of this earth. Mr. Merah also murdered three soldiers a week earlier and had been detained previously in Afghanistan charged with bomb making. One has to wonder about the facts of Mr. Merah’s life that lead him to hate in such a vicious and unrestrained manner as a young man of just 23 years.

Perhaps we might also wonder about the facts of George Zimmerman’s life. On February 26, he gunned down 17 year old Trayvon Martin. After telling police that Trayvon looked “suspicious”, Zimmerman apparently chased Trayvon down when a scuffle broke out leaving Trayvon, armed only with iced tea and Skittles, dead. Though Zimmerman’s father claims his son is of partial Hispanic origin and not a racist, ABC news reported yesterday that on the tape of the 911 call-- the one where Zimmerman is specifically told by the police not to follow Trayvon-- Zimmerman can be heard saying  “under his breath what sounds like ‘f**ing coons.’" Seconds later he confronted Trayvon and shot him dead. The Orlanda Sentinel also reports that of the 46 calls the self-appointed and armed neighborhood watch commander made to the police in recent years, a number of them were to report suspicious persons that were black. While a number of calls centered on kids playing in the street and open garage doors, when it came to reporting “suspicious” characters, Mr. Zimmerman, repeatedly found black men fit his clearly racist perceptions.

Also yesterday, Deryl Dedmon, 19, was given two life sentences for the murder of a black man, James Anderson, in Mississippi. Dedmon was found guilty of running Mr. Anderson over with his car. He is said to have driven 30 miles after leaving a party in his hometown of Puckett in search of a black man to harass, eventually driving 30 miles to Jackson, Mississippi.  At sentencing he claimed to be a “reformed man” who God has showed to “see no colors”. Shortly thereafter he was sentenced to two life sentences.

These stories do not relate to each other in many ways, but something here calls our attention. There can be little doubt that racial animus is the cause for all of this death, and all this loss.  Trayvon may not have been killed in the same way as James, Arye, Gabriel, and Miriam, but they are all gone forever now, victims of hatred that seems to survive in spite of any enlightenment or human progress. Mr. Anderson will never sing in his church again, something friends said loved to do. Trayvon is gone forever from his mother and father and brother. The NBA All Star game will no longer be a reason for happy family gatherings. In the years down the road that game will only serve as a reminder of loss to Trayvon’ s mom, Sybrina Fulton, who says her heart is broken. In France two little children and a father have been torn from a family of religious devotion. When I put myself in that mindset of the wife of Rabbi Sandler and the mother of the Sandler children who must carry on, I cannot fathom how she would do it. That faith can be an answer to such loss is unimaginable to me.

In the days ahead we will hear American voices condemning again the vile nihilism of Al Qaeda, but will we also hear condemnation of the racist executions in Stamford Florida and Jackson, Mississippi?  So far Hannity has expressed his sorrow over Trayvon’s killing, while pivoting to his fervent hope that this incident does not turn into an attack on gun laws.  Meanwhile any American with an open heart and an open mind knows that while America rises quickly to reject and condemn Al Qaeda and other Islamic militants, our vision is substantially more myopic when it comes to the violent acts which occur in our midst with stunning regularity. America demonstrates its capacity for violence based on hatred of the “other”, whether that is blacks, immigrants, or gay people with damning frequency. Even in liberal New York, stories of street attacks on gays are not uncommon.

The most heinous act in American history the attacks of 9-11, for a brief period gave us all reason to pause and examine where we are as citizens of the United Sates and the world, but quickly thereafter the one emotion that seems to have lingered from that event—fear-- drove us to enter two wars. In the months that followed Americans on both right and left were back in familiar positions of attack and counter attack, firmly grounded in their political postures and unable to communicate. A national consensus briefly visible through the shroud of tears disappeared almost overnight. Looking back one has to wonder if the consensus was only really that of a desire for revenge. Nothing else has really proven to be sustainable. Similarly, for a few weeks we condemned the hateful political environment that led to the near assassination of Gabby Giffords, the death of six and the wounding of seven more Americans. At a grocery store where all must travel we can be sure that both conservatives and liberals were victim of this insane rage. But then we just moved on our political dialogue as poisonous as ever. We seem to muster always the strength to mourn, but we seldom exhibit the capacity for self-examination and change. This it seems to me is not uniquely American, it is a human trait. But as we condemn the fear and anger which leads to violence all over the world, we tolerate it to such a great measure here. I cannot help but be stunned by our inability to even notice the hypocrisy in us, much less seek to heal the deep wound in our collective soul.

Mr. Hannity need not worry. This country has a deeply rooted attachment to its violent weapons. To put them aside we must agree to hate less and love more, even our enemies, especially our enemies, because beyond second amendment arguments the real reason America wants its guns is that many of us are afraid of the other. Racism is at its core a philosophy of fear. There is no courage in any of these monstrous acts. Courage, real courage, comes only from our willingness to listen more, to have a dialogue with those with whom we disagree, to accept that reconciliation means compromise, and that we all come up short in the measure of what it really means to love our fellow man and woman.

This is in memory of all of those who died, and in dedication to my long lost friend Calvin, who last I heard somehow made it through. I miss you, old friend, and hope you are well and safe.