September26.2012_____________
Minority & Small Business Week________________ Page23
________.______O pinion
A Hateful Piece of Propaganda
Anti-Islam film abuses free speech
BY VlCANGELO
B ulluck
H avoc c o n tin
u e s th r o u g h o u t
the M iddle East
and N orthern A f
rica ignited by the
d ebasing stereo
ty p e s an d g ro te s q u e p o rtra y a ls
depicted in the film , Innocence o f
Islam. The am ateurish film has m ush
room ed into a m aelstrom o f disquiet
throughout the M uslim W orld.
N ot since the release o f B irth o f a
N ation has a film becom e so in flam
m atory. In 1915 the N A A C P led
peaceful protests denouncing the
film that was causing riots and lynch
ings across our nation.
B loggers and Sunday m orning
new s co m m en tato rs debate and a r
gue about w h eth er the Innocence
o f Islam film m ak ers sh o u ld b e held
accountable fo r the eru p tio n o f v io
lence caused by the film . A fter all
they have the right to free speech.
W hile w e d efen d free speech
there is a resp o n sib ility that co m es
w ith that right. In 1915 the N A A C P
sought injunctions against the d is
tribution o f T he B irth o f a N ation
calling it a threat to public safety. So
today the N A A C P can n o t rem ain
silent. W e m ust condem n this h ate
ful destructive piece o f propaganda.
T he tragic loss o f life rem inds us
not only o f the volatility o f closely
held thoughts and beliefs but also
about the p o w er o f film to influence
and ignite them . H istory has show n
us repeatedly that m edia - and m ost
p ow erfully - visual m edia, has a
direct effect on culture and hum an
behavior.
W hen Birth o f N ation portrayed
the K K K as heroes defending w hite
virtue, it increased the m em bership
o f the K K K and p erpetuated n eg a
tive stereotypes o f A frican A m eri
can that w ould last generations. L a
m entably, som e o f these stereotypes
still resonate today.
T hus, the N A A C P ’s continuing
endeavors to affect the portrayals
o f m inorities in film and television
have never been m ore critical, given
that m edia giants now beam p o w er
ful im ages throughout the w orld,
shaping o u r beliefs, opinions and
d ecisio n s.
W hat the people o f the M iddle
East, N orth A frica and around the
w orld need to understand is that
m ost A m ericans are insulted by this
film and that m inorities in A m erica
co n tin u e to advocate for fair rep re
sentation in the m edia.
So, we urge the people and the
leaders o f the M uslim w orld to p ro
test in peace and jo in us in a co n
structive dialogue about the pow er
o f the m edia in shaping the w orld in
w hich we all aspire to live — a w orld
o f in clu sio n , u n d erstan d in g and
tolerance.
T hose living under repressive
regim es m ust understand that free
d o m o f s p e e c h is o n e o f o u r
d em o cracy ’s founding principles.
C onversely, w e as a free people
m ust understand the p o w er o f that
speech and that w e have the right
and the responsibility to condem n
those w ho w ould abuse it.
So, w e urge those in the e n ter
tainm ent and com m unication indus
tries to reflect on the p ow er o f the
im ages that are created in o ur m ass
m edia on a daily basis. Im ages that
w ere once carried in film canisters
and driven o v er roads from theater
to th eater are now transported on
the w orldw ide w eb by the click o f a
b u tto n .
In this age o f new m edia, le t’s
hope the m essaging w e have been
seeing online through Facebook and
Y ouT ube from co n cern ed A m eri
cans o f every race, religion and g e n
d er will be view ed and heard by the
rest o f the w orld so that they know
that we as a nation advocate and
appeal fo r the birth o f tolerance.
Vicangelo Bulluck is executive
director o f the Hollywood bureau
o f the NAACP.
How Many Lives Would Have Been Saved
A nation unwilling
to curb guns that kill
lots of people
M arian W right E delman
W hen new s broke o f the
m urders at the Sikh T em ple o f
W isconsin, people o f all faiths
and backgrounds and the first
responders w ho cam e to the scene to help
w ere horrified by the am bush on m en and
w om en as they prepared for w orship ser
vices.
by
L eaders across the country quickly d e
nounced the hate crim e and the FBI im m ed i
ately began investigating the attack as a
possible case o f dom estic terrorism . B ut as
easy as it w as for all o f us to be ou trag ed by
another senseless attack and heartb ro k en by
the co n g reg atio n ’s stories, it w as difficult to
be surprised by how it took place again in a
nation unw illing to curb guns designed ju s t
to kill lots o f people in the hands o f law less
ih'|Jlirtknii> <f)hserlier
people.
W ould this have happened w ithout a sem i
au to m atic g un and high-capacity clip s o f
b u llets?
T he shootings at the Sikh T em p le o f
W isconsin last m onth cam e only two
w eeks after Jam es H olm es killed 12 people
and injured 58 others at a m ovie th eater in
A urora, C olo., in one o f the w orst m ass
shootings in A m erican history.
W ould this have happened w ithout an
A R -15 assault rifle, a R em ington 870 12-
gau g e shot gun, and a sem i-autom atic h a n d
gun w ith h ig h -cap acity clips o f bullets?
E very tim e an o th er m ass shooting h a p
pens in the U nited States, the debate over
gun control co m es fleetingly to the fo re
front— until political fear paralyzes courage
and action.
Inevitably, som e p eople repeat the arg u
m ent that the solution to preventing m ass
shootings is not b etter gun control law s—
even control o f assault w eapons w hich have
no p lace in nonm ilitary hands— but getting
even m ore A m ericans arm ed.
Established 1970
T he ap p aren t fantasy result w ould be
som ething straight out o f H ollyw ood w here
every single tim e a bad person stands up with
a gun a good person w ith their ow n gun
w ould quickly rise up out o f the crow d, shoot
the bad person, and save the day.
But argum ents like this ignore both co m
m on sense and scientific evidence about the
connection betw een the ready availability o f
guns— including assault w eapons and guns
w ith large am m unition capacity— and the
epidem ic o f gun violence in A m erica.
D aniel W . W ebster, professor and co
directo r o f the C en ter fo r G un Policy and
R esearch at Johns H opkins School o f Public
H ealth and a panelist at the C h ild ren ’s D e
fense F u n d ’s recent conference, w rote after
the A urora shootings: “ W e should not brush
aside discu ssio n s o f gun policy as too politi
cally difficult to expect m eaningful change,
o r ‘the price fo r our freed o m s.’ Instead, we
should reflect on w hy the U.S. has a m urder
rate that is nearly seven tim es hig h er than the
average m u rd er rate in other high-incom e
countries and a nearly 20 tim es higher m urder
rate w ith guns.
W e b s te r w en t o n to say th a t stu d ie s he
h as c o n d u c te d in d ic a te th a t s tric te r re g u
la tio n s o f g u n sa le s, w h e th e r by re ta il
d e a le rs o r by p riv a te se lle rs , are a s s o c i
a ted w ith fe w e r g u n s d iv e rte d to c rim in a ls.
M o re o v e r, he a rg u e s th a t n a tio n a l s u r
v ey s sh o w th a t a la rg e m a jo rity o f c itiz e n s
fa v o r th e se re fo rm s to o u r g u n la w s, in
c lu d in g m o st g u n o w n e rs.
It is w ay past tim e for co m m o n -sen se gun
law reform in A m erica. M any o f the victim s o f
m ass shootings have been strangers— som e
tim es ch ild ren — w ho w ere personally u n
know n to the shooters but w ere sim ply in
“the w rong place at the w rong tim e,” even if
the “w rong place” turned out to be going to
class, attending a w orship service on a S u n
day m orning, o r going to the local m ovie
th eater on a su m m er evening.
In o th e r w ords, they co u ld have been any
one o f us. W hat w ill it take fo r us to do
som ething about it?
Marian Wright Edelman is president o f
the Children's Defense Fund.
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