Language of our times
The lack of civility, decency and culture in our country is astonishing. Roseanne Barr’s ugly, hate-filled, racist slur against Valerie Jarrett took my breath away. Does Roseanne, herself Jewish, not know how discrimination feels? What possible goal could she have?
Samantha Bee’s use of the most obscene word in English to condemn Ivanka Trump was equally disheartening. But to some degree, I understand her. As a mother herself, Samantha saw the great misfortune of children aggressively separated from their families at the border, an unspeakable injustice promoted by the White House, so out of place when juxtaposed with the loving photograph of Ivanka with her child.
Roseanne’s heart is filled with hate and as long as it is, there is no way to rectify her wrong. Samantha’s heart is in the right place, but her foul rhetoric deeply damaged her message.
When will we learn to curb our tongues?
Let us instead take Michelle Obama’s advice, “When they go low, we go high!”
And let us look to leaders like Bobby Kennedy and Barack Obama, who used rhetoric to inspire us toward goodness, compassion and tolerance - to build our nation up, not divide and tear it apart!
Halina Slobodow
Spokane