What I Learned This Summer (or What I Already Knew):
The Uncompassionate Conservative Movement
by David J. Leonard | NewBlackMan
Kids have made their way back to school, with many writing and reporting about what they did last summer. I thought I would do something similar, writing about what I have learned about “conservatives” in the last few weeks.
Lesson (1) At a recent Republican Debate, audience members made their support for state-sponsored executions clear. What I learned is that they think it is a beautiful thing that Texas executes so many people; the mere mention of execution resulted in cheers and ovations. They must think that being part of a group of nations (including China, Iran, North Korea and Yemen) that carries out a great number of the world’s execution is worthy of applause. I guess some find pride in the fact that Texas executed more people in 2010 (17) than Bangladesh and Somalia and as many as Syria (one less than Libya and about 10 behind Saudi Arabia). While I am appalled by the barbaric practice of state-sponsored murder, I am equally disgusted by the reaction that I witnessed that day. I would guess many of them are unhappy with the U.S. Supreme Court, who issued a stay of execution for Duane Buck, who was convicted of double murder in 1985. According to Tim Murphy:
In order to “secure a capital punishment conviction in Texas they needed to prove "future dangerousness"—that is, provide compelling evidence that Buck posed a serious threat to society if he were ever to walk free. They did so in part with the testimony of a psychologist, Dr. Walter Quijano, who testified that Buck's race (he's African American) made him more likely to commit crimes in the future. (Quijano answered in the affirmative to the question of whether "the race factor, [being] black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons.")
Governor Perry’s death penalty record (particularly questions raised about his execution of an innocent man) and the applause given for executions give me pause. It is yet another reminder of the hypocrisy in the term “compassionate conservative.”
Lesson (2) The members of the Republican Party think a person without insurance in need of health care should be left to die because “choices have consequences.” Danielle Belton, from The Black Snob, describes the situation in the following way:
The most startling moment was during a hypothetical question posed by Wolf Blitzer about a 30-something, once healthy uninsured guy who didn't buy insurance when he could afford it, but got really sick and might die. Should we let him die? While Ron Paul was trying to give his "go to a church for help if you're uninsured and dying of an illness answer" (more on that later), the crowd got a little restless and cheered for letting the dude die.
On top of the last debate where folks cheered Gov. Rick Perry's death penalty rate in Texas -- even when some of those folks killed were likely innocent -- has demonstrated a bloodlust among the conservative, "pro-lifer" crowd. Once again proving, the best thing you can do as a human being with these folks is stay a fetus as long as possible.
I guess executions (of some people) are good and allowing some people to die is also fine. These first two “lessons” were just from this month, followed-up on lessons learned throughout the summer
Lesson (3) Arizona began implementing a policy that required a $25 dollar fee to visit family members within prison. In a bill introduced by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, the Arizona Department of Corrections “impose[d] a $25 fee on adults who wish to visit inmates at any of the 15 prison complexes that house state prisoners.” Arizona officials justified the law, which is the first of its kind in the nation, by citing the cost of background checks, even though the collected money will not be used toward this cost. Instead the money will be used to pay for building maintenance and repairs “needed” at its prisons.
Beyond the inhumanity of a law that seeks to potentially inhibit and restrict family contact, it is a poor policy if one is invested in shrinking prison population. Numerous studies about recidivism and the creation of “safe” and “secure” prisons cite family ties as paramount. A recent study from a Massachusetts commission illustrates how such fees are bad policy, (I would add that they are also immoral, disgusting and illustrative of the lack of compassion and the commonplace hypocrisy in today’s political culture):
Given that “more than half of male inmates were the primary source of financial support for their children” pre-incarceration3?, fees will not only impact inmates but also their family members. Inmates that are indigent or have limited sources of income will often rely on funds transferred from their canteen accounts for reentry upon their release, including for the purpose of securing housing, access to substance abuse/mental health programming, and educational opportunities. Funds may also be necessary to regain drivers’ licenses for commuting to and from the workplace as well as to pay down the costs associated with imprisonment. The commission believes that additional fees would increase the number of inmates qualifying as indigent, increase the financial burdens on the inmate and their family, and jeopardize inmates’ opportunities for successful reentry.
Lessons learned: “Conservatives” (at least in Arizona) don’t like taxes, but do like to tax families who merely want to see their loved ones who happened to be incarcerated. Executions and the uninsured=good; families wanting to see loved ones=bad or at least not worthy enough to avoid taxation.
Future Lesson: House Republicans are currently pushing a bill that will eliminate all discretion and autonomy in deportation cases, which according to Mother Jones would result in the deportation of women like Rebeca Gonzales (pseudonym given in the report). In February, after years of abuse, Gonzalez phone 911 after her boyfriend threatened to prevent her from seeing her 1-year old child. Once the police arrived, they (1) demanded that she speak English, (2) disputed her accusations; and (3) they arrested her. Even though doctors told the police that there was evidence of physical abuse, they proceeded with the arrest. Ultimately the charges were dropped against Gonzalez, yet the damage was already done with ICE notified about her immigration status. Adam Serwer reports that:
Her calling the authorities for help in finding a safe haven for herself and her child, Gonzales found herself about to be deported. ICE eventually agreed to close Gonzales' case after immigration activists turned her story into a symbol of what they see as the Obama administration's draconian immigration policies. Back in Washington, though, Republicans were accusing the administration of not being draconian enough. In July, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, used an ICE memo urging agents to prioritize the removal of undocumented immigrants with criminal records to charge that Obama was instituting "backdoor amnesty."
Unhappy with the Obama administration’s partial reversal on its immigration policy, one that had resulted in the deportation of over 1 million people during his presidency, the Republicans are seeking to show their compassionate side again. With over 400,000 people deported yearly, and with roughly 4 million American children living with undocumented parents (either 1 or both), the deportation process is one that splits up families. DA Morales best summed up this lesson as follows: “What I really respect about Republicans is their devotion to God and Family. Because of God, they have this moral code that insists Illegal is Illegal, even if slavery or segregation is the law, the law is sacred and above humanity.” He continues to highlight a lesson in their hypocrisy: “Because of their love for Family, and Family Values, they have no problem splitting up Latino families, deporting the undocumented parents and leaving the children behind, because that is EXACTLY WWJD, or rather WJWD (what Jesus would do).”
So next time you hear a politician foaming at the mouth regarding family values, remember my lessons from this summer. And these issues certainly transcend party (the Democratic Party has been ineffective and complicit in this country’s policies regarding the death penalty and deportations), the lessons are not so much about the policy choices but the callousness, the lack of respect for humanity, and the visible celebration of these injustices. This is what gives me pause. The failure of leaders within the conservative movement to say, “No, we don’t celebrate death, we don’t celebrate splitting families apart, we don’t applaud pain and suffering” has given me pause. I think Danielle Belton best summarized how I am feeling from the lessons of the summer in the following way:
Nope, this "let them eat death, poor people aren't good enough for cake" attitude is more about: "I have money and I don't want to use it to help other people I don't know even if by helping those other people it makes our society a better, healthier and more fair place. I embrace the jungle of life where, in most cases, I'm already a winner, or, I hold on to the dream that someday I will be the winner and I too can use a small poor child as a foot rest after a long day of money counting." This kind of attitude -- a weird perversion of the perfectly fine Protestant work ethic -- has always been around in American society. Heck, it was pretty much the poor white person's justification for slavery, as maybe, one day, they'd get some darkies to love-and-or-horribly-abuse. What was the point in "fairness" if those meant to be beneath you became your equals?
And while these are not new lessons, evidence in the legislative push to sever parental rights for those incarcerated for drug abuse, legislative agendas that have sought to restrict and limit access to basic welfare, and legislative efforts to privatize prisons thereby sending incarcerated people to serve their time elsewhere, there is something new here. The celebration of and the callous praise for denying life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness amongst the less-fortunate, amongst the poor, amongst communities of color, amongst those most vulnerable, feels “new” (renewed). And while I don’t long for a return to a “compassionate conservative movement,” I think we would all be better off if we put a moratorium on clapping for execution, death, and deportation at least while I wait for end to the death penalty, an end to people dying because of a lack of affordable and available health care, and end to deportations. Can I get a few applause for that???
***
David J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. He has written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing in both popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy of popular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, and popular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis. He is the author of Screens Fade to Black: Contemporary African American Cinema and the forthcoming After Artest: Race and the War on Hoop (SUNY Press). Leonard is a regular contributor to NewBlackMan and blogs @ No Tsuris.
