Talk about an “off-color joke”

by Svend White

A Kansas politician has “joked” about gunning down “illegal immigrants” (read: Mexicans) like animals. The naked prejudice of such a quip and the irresponsibility of it issuing from the lips of an elected official are mind-boggling.

Kansas GOPer: Let’s Shoot Illegal Immigrants Like Pigs | TPMDC:

Kansas State Rep. Virgil Peck (R) suggested Monday that the best way to deal with the illegal immigration problem may be the same way the state might deal with the problem of “feral hogs” — by shooting them from a helicopter. [MORE]

Not to distract us from the appalling anti-Mexican and anti-Latino racism of this odious pronouncement, but I have to say it: Imagine if a Muslim politician (say, Congressman Keith Ellison) said something this extreme about his own (in some cases quite “feral”) opponents.

Ponder why such forms of hate speech and racism – which emerge at regular intervals in our post-9/11 political landscape, often directed at Muslims – by non-Muslims have no place in Representative Peter “I should testify to myself” King’s hearings on extremism and radicalization in America.

How is such an open expression of dehumanizing contempt philosophically all that different from the rants against “cockroaches” (i.e., Tutsis) that preceded the genocide in Rwanda in 1994?

I’m reminded of the old Roman proverb, In vino est veritas. “In wine there is truth.” Likewise for extreme “tongue in cheek” outbursts against scapegoated minorities, I suspect. But, Heaven forefend that any attention should be given to the hate and incitement of rightwing Christian militias, white supremacist Citizens’ Councils and other Right-leaning (and, not infrequently, Right-affiliated) hate groups that have also produced very real threats to public safety (and without FBI recruitment and entrapment).

But I guess it’s fine so long as the right ox is getting gored.

SEE ALSO:  Islamophobia no longer questioned - even by our elected representatives for a lengthy list of questionable quotes by elected representatives and government officials.