A Quick Note 11.22.22

Reckless Right-Wing Rhetoric Puts All of Us At Risk

Hello. Although I plan to stick to a weekly newsletter, expect me to jump in with a quick note in the middle of the week. It will usually be inspired by a news item that I feel the need to address immediately. At first I was not going to chime in, but then I realized that I make the rules here!

The Reckless Rhetoric of Right-Wingers

There is a direct link between the hateful and reckless rhetoric coming out from politicians and news personalities, primarily from the right-wing, and the violence happening across America. In light of that, we should all be alarmed by what former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said about, Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and teachers in general.

Here are the offending remarks from Pompeo’s interview with Shelby Talcott and Dave Weigel for the Semafor Newsletter:

This is Weingarten’s response:

It is hard enough to be a teacher today even without Republicans vilifying us in order to stoke up fear in the culture war they are waging against most Americans. The GOP platform is now one of hate, including attacks on the very professionals educating America’s children. Schools are already targets and these right-wingers are putting us all at even greater risk with their repulsive comments. I can’t even tell you how many times people attack me online for being a teacher. They call me an “indoctrinator,” “a groomer,” and also use various antisemitic tropes against me. Of course, they also can’t help but to sprinkle in some comments about my appearance. As more and more Republicans seek to run in 2024 , I fear that they will continue to attack teachers, teacher’s unions, and schools in general. I am deeply concerned about the repercussions of this cynical political tactic. America is already dealing with a teacher shortage and this will only exacerbate the situation.

So, please continue to push back and speak out against these tactics. Even if you are not steeped in social media, having one-on-one conversations with friends and members of your community is helpful. This also includes pushing back against family and friends at the Thanksgiving table who are misguided in their views. Our young people deserve to have access to the best education possible. It is up to all of us to fight for it.

Recommendation - Follow NBC Reporter Ben Collins who does a phenomenal job covering the dark topic of online hate. Here is his Twitter handle and a Tweet about his statement on Morning Joe this morning re: the importance of journalists continuing to report about both online and offline hate, even in the face of enduring it themselves as a result:

Speaking of the Link Between Hateful Language and Violence…

I wanted to share this beautiful art by artist Jen White-Johnson honoring the victims of the domestic terrorist attack on the LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs:

Raymond Green Vance, 22 
Daniel Davis Aston, 28 
Ashley Paugh, 35 
Derrick Rump, 38 
Kelly Loving, 40 

jtknoxroxs

A post shared by jen white johnson (@jtknoxroxs)