IT
MATTERS
COMMENTARY BY LUCY
MANESS WARNER
NOVEMBER 3,
2023
HATE OPERATES
LIKE AN ADDICTIVE DRUG. IT TEMPORARILY MAKES US FEEL POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT,
AND WHEN WE GET TOGETHER WITH OTHER HATERS WE KNOW THAT (FINALLY) WE BELONG. WE
ARE ACCEPTED AND A PART OF SOMETHING GREATER THAN OURSELVES, SECURE,
TRIUMPHANT. IN OUR GROUP OF HATERS WE ARE ALLOWED TO EXERCISE CRUELTY WITHOUT
BEING PUNISHED FOR IT. THE WORSE WE BEHAVE, THE MORE LIKELY WE ARE TO BECOME A
HERO TO SOME OTHER HATE-GROUP ACOLYTE.
THESE DAYS,
WOULD-BE KILLERS GO ON THEIR FAVORITE INTERNET HATE SITES AND COMPARE NOTES,
READING THE INSANE RANTS AND GLOATING OF OTHERS, GAINING THE COURAGE TO DO
SOMETHING THEMSELVES. A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE OF THOSE WILL BE INSPIRED TO TAKE
THEIR AR-15 TO TOWN, WHEN THEIR BOSS FIRES THEM OR THEIR WIFE WALKS OUT, AND
PUNISH SOMEONE WHOSE SKIN IS THE WRONG COLOR OR WHO PRAYS THE WRONG PRAYER FOR
THE WAY THEY ARE FEELING. THAT IS HOW HATE WORKS. WE ALLOW IT INTO OUR MINDS AS
A BOOST TO OUR EGO AND IT TAKES ROOT, EMERGING WHENEVER WE FEEL INSECURE. WITH
DRUGS WE ARE USING A CHEMICAL, BUT WITH HATE IT IS A THOUGHT THAT MAKES US FEEL
BETTER AGAIN. PERHAPS ONE DAY PSYCHOLOGISTS WILL LOCATE A PLEASURE CENTER IN
THE BRAIN THAT IS ACTIVATED BY OUR ANGER.
IN THE USA THE
SITUATION IS COMPLEX. WE HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO SPEAK DESPICABLY TO AND
ABOUT OTHERS, JUST BECAUSE WE HAPPEN TO FEEL ANGRY, IGNORED OR UNDERRATED THAT
DAY. IT IS NOT A CRIME TO BE A BAD PERSON. WHEN THE RIGHT TO "FREE SPEECH"
IS DEFINED MORE CLEARLY, I BELIEVE WE WILL HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON CONTROLLING
THE SITUATION THAT HATE SPEECH PLAYS TODAY. SPEAKING DAMAGING WORDS NEEDS TO BE
A CRIME AND NOT JUST A TORT. A TORT IS A NEGLIGENT OR INTENTIONAL HARM DONE TO
ANOTHER THAT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY PUNISHABLE BY PRISON. THE VICTIM HAS TO FILE A
LAWSUIT IN ORDER TO GET RELIEF, WHICH WILL PROBABLY BE A MONETARY PAYMENT.
LAWSUITS ARE EXPENSIVE, SO MOST PEOPLE WILL NOT SUE OVER AN ISSUE. THEY HAVE TO
RESORT TO HIDING IN THEIR HOME TO ESCAPE THREATS, INSTEAD. THE GEORGIA ELECTION
WORKERS WHO WERE ESSENTIALLY CURSED BY DONALD TRUMP ARE A CASE IN POINT. HIS
WORDS WERE POWERFUL.
THE FOLLOWING
BBC ARTICLE ENCOURAGES ME. FINALLY AUTHORITIES ARE BEGINNING TO TAKE SERIOUSLY
THE NATURE OF THE SITUATION AND MAKE ARRESTS. THAT IS LONG OVERDUE, IN MY VIEW.
THE DANGER TO EVERYTHING WE HAVE ACHIEVED IN AMERICA IS TOO GREAT FOR US TO DO
OTHERWISE. THIS ACTION BY POLICE IS APPROPRIATE, AND I WANT TO SEE LEGAL
CHANGES MADE THAT WOULD TAKE AWAY THE GRAY AREA ON WHAT SHOULD BE "ALLOWED
SPEECH." THE SAYING THAT "WORDS CAN NEVER HURT ME" IS ABSOLUTELY
FALSE, A LIE PROPAGATED BY BULLIES, AND HARMS DONE IN THAT WAY SHOULD HAVE
CONSEQUENCES.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67280174
Cornell student
held over threats to Jewish classmates
Published 3
hours ago [NOVEMBER 1, 2023]
By Brandon
Drenon
BBC News
Related Topics --
Israel-Gaza war
PHOTOGRAPH --
Cornell's campus featuring a building, IMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES
Police in New York
have arrested a Cornell University student who is accused of posting violent
threats to Jewish classmates over the weekend.
In a series of
posts to a website called Greekrank, a user with the name "hamas"
threatened to shoot Jewish students at the prestigious university.
Patrick Dai, 21,
is in his third year at the university.
Police say he made
threats to bring a gun to campus and rape Jewish women and "behead any
Jewish babies".
Mr Dai has been
charged by the FBI with posting threats to kill or injure another using
interstate communications.
The crime is
punishable by up to five years in prison. He is scheduled to appear in court in
Syracuse on Wednesday.
Officials say he
posted that he planned to attack a university building that housed a kosher
cafeteria and is next to the Cornell Jewish Center.
New York Governor
Kathy Hochul said she was "committed to combatting hate and bias wherever
it rears its ugly head".
The Cornell Daily
Sun, the college newspaper, first reported on a series of antisemitic comments
left on the website Greekrank.
The platform,
which is not affiliated with the university but is used by many of its
students, covers fraternity and sorority life on several campuses.
One post from the
commenter named "hamas" was titled "if i see another jew".
The post used
slurs to refer to Jewish people and threatened violence, stalking and rape
against Jewish men, women and babies.
The user
threatened to bring a gun to campus to kill Jewish people.
In a statement,
Cornell University said: "We remain shocked by and condemn these horrific,
antisemitic threats and believe they should be prosecuted to the full extent of
the law."
The university
said that police will maintain a heightened security presence on campus in the
coming days.
Molly Goldstein,
co-president of the Cornell Center for Jewish Living, told CNN: "Jewish
students on campus right now are unbelievably terrified for their lives.
"I never
would have expected this to happen on my university campus."
The threats
against Cornell's Jewish community arrive amid reports of rising antisemitic
incidents around the country.
Speaking to a
congressional committee on Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray told
lawmakers that antisemitic abuse was reaching "historic levels" in
the US.
"Our
statistics would indicate that for a group that represents only about 2.4% of
the American public, they account for something like 60% of all religious-based
hate crimes," Mr Wray said of Jewish Americans, noting that the figure had
probably risen since the Israel-Gaza conflict erupted on 7 October.
On Monday, the
Biden administration announced that it was working to combat antisemitism and
other hate speech on campuses by increasing communications with local, state
and federal authorities.
Responding to a
surge in hate crimes, Ms Hochul, who visited Cornell early this week, said $50m
(£41m) will be made available for police to help prevent and solve such crimes,
as well as $25m in security funding for at-risk community groups and cultural
centres.
"Let me be
clear: we cannot allow hate and intimidation to become normalised," Ms
Hochul said on Tuesday.
The Israel-Gaza
conflict has increased tensions among students on US campuses.
Related Topics
Israel-Gaza war
Universities
United States
Capitol
Antisemitism
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Published
16 October
*US college
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Published
6 days ago
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